by Dr. Doug Herriott and originally printed in the Lee’s Summit Journal on January 9, 2019
The new year is an excellent time for Lee’s Summit citizens to become educated, to get their eyes checked and to get treatment if needed, before permanent and irreversible damage begins.
Experts call glaucoma “the sneak thief of sight” because there are no symptoms in the early stages such as blurred vision, a feeling of pressure in or behind the eye or pain. When a person finally notices a change in their sight, more than 40 percent of their optic nerve (the nerve that transmits the light from our eyes back to our brain) may be destroyed. This damage is permanent.
Once the individual sees symptoms it can be difficult to prevent more damage, vision loss or potential blindness.