TREAT YOUR Eyes’

This World Glaucoma Week (12-18 March 2023), we want to help YOU save sight from glaucoma by asking Australians to get active about eye health and ‘Treat Their Eyes’ to an eye test.

Known as the 'silent thief of sight' glaucoma develops slowly for most people, and a considerable amount of peripheral vision may be lost before the problem becomes noticeable. Glaucoma usually gives no warning until it is advanced, but the damage it causes to vision is ongoing. Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. The disease affects 300,000 Australians, with 50% unaware that they have the disease because they haven’t had a comprehensive eye exam. There is no cure for glaucoma and vision loss is irreversible, making early detection and treatment key to saving sight. Fortunately, for many patients’ treatment can halt the damage. That means the earlier the diagnosis, the more vision there is to save and the less likely the person is to become blind.

In many cases, glaucoma is an inherited (genetic) disease that is passed on within families - you are 10x more likely to have glaucoma if you have a direct family member with glaucoma. So, knowing your family history is important. If you have glaucoma, those directly related to you – brothers, sisters, sons, daughters – have an almost 1 in 4 chances of developing glaucoma too. And friends over the age of 50 are also at an increased risk.

Australians over 50 years of age are more at risk of developing glaucoma. Having your eyes checked by an optometrist every two years can prevent the irreversible damage that can be caused by glaucoma. 3 in 100 Australians will develop glaucoma in their lifetime, yet more than 35% have not undergone regular eye examinations, increasing their risk of glaucoma remaining undiagnosed

So, treat yourself, by treating your eyes to an eye examination at Eye Envy Optometrist. You can call on 5432 3077 to make your bulk billed eye test.