Huddersfield surgeon Nitin Anand’s glaucoma warning

Mar 1 2010 by Anne-Marie Senior, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

He added: “If a patients says they are having problems and things are blurred, it is too late by then, unfortunately.

“Visit your optician regularly, especially if you are over 40. It is the simplest thing you can do.

“People come to me with advanced glaucoma and say they haven’t seen an optician in 15 years.The older you get the more glaucoma you get.

“If we look at people over 80, we see 8% have glaucoma, so age is one of the biggest risk factors.”

A regular eye test every two years is recommended to keep eyes healthy and prevent the loss of sight.

QUARMBY mum Jan Taylor, 52, is among the thousands of people living with glaucoma.

The special care baby nurse was diagnosed with the condition in her 40s when high eye pressure was spotted as she underwent treatment for a thyroid condition.

She has since undergone eye surgery in her left eye to create a channel to aid drainage and ease the pressure.

But she has lost a small part of her eyesight for good.

She said: “ I was lucky they found it early.

“Some of my sight has gone in my left eye and I didn’t know. It is amazing how the eyes adjust.

“I realised when I couldn’t see the top of my husband’s head one day.

“But it doesn’t affect my daily life. I can still drive and work.

“Even if it is glaucoma, it is treatable. Your eyes are so important. Once they have gone, they have gone”.