An eye check up at least once a year could save your sight from a disease that has no symptoms but has rendered at least 25,000 Kenyans blind.
When he started losing sight in his left eye last year, Mr Anthony Mbugua, 25, did not suspect that he could become blind at such an early age.
Glaucoma has been rated the second most common cause of blindness worldwide and the number one cause of irreversible blindness.
“My eyes itched and my vision became cloudy, prompting me to see an ophthalmologist,” Mr Mbugua told the Nation in an interview at Aga Khan University Hospital, during a public lecture on glaucoma.
Glaucoma is an eye disease that causes progressive irreversible damage of the optic nerve and loss of the field of vision. It is often associated with high pressure in the eye and if left untreated may lead to blindness.
Dr Daniel Kiage, head of the ophthalmology department at Aga Khan University Hospital, warns there are no warnings or obvious symptoms until the marked irreversible loss of vision has occurred, but that an eye test could save one’s sight.
Mr Mbugua had worn spectacles since he was 12 years old to control his short sightedness.
“Glaucoma takes away your field of vision, narrowing it until you eventually become blind,” said Dr Kiage.
Glaucoma affects more than 67 million people worldwide, 6.7 million of whom are blind.
“The disease can only be detected by regular eye check-ups, otherwise when the sight begins to be affected, it cannot be restored,” Dr Kiage said during the public lecture over the weekend to mark the World Glaucoma Week that ended on Sunday.
Once glaucoma is diagnosed and treatment began, follow-up is lifelong.
Anyone can get glaucoma though there are some risk factors that make one more susceptible to getting the disease. These include being over 40 years old, thyroid disease and short sightedness.