Glaucoma testing is important, health care experts say

"Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness," said Dr. Jeremy Fast of Eye Care Professionals, Nevada.

It's Glaucoma Awareness Month, and a good time to be tested for and to share information about the disease.

Glaucoma can sneak up on a person, most of the symptoms don't develop until the disease is fairly far along and even then they are easy to miss. Glaucoma is an eye condition that develops when too much fluid pressure builds up inside of the eye.

The increased pressure, called intraocular pressure, can damage the optic nerve, which transmits images to the brain. If damage to the optic nerve from high eye pressure continues, glaucoma will cause loss of vision. Without treatment, glaucoma can cause total permanent blindness within a few years.

Fast said it is a subtle disease that can sneak up on people, so regular testing is important.

"It's a subtle loss, most people don't know they're losing peripheral vision," Fast said. "The sooner you can catch it the more vision you can save."

Keeping your vision from deteriorating is important because with glaucoma, once vision is gone, it's gone.

That's because the optic nerve is damaged by the disease. Damage to the optic nerve can never be repaired so it is important to have your eyes checked regularly, once every two years normally or more often if you are in one of the high-risk categories.

Glaucoma is not just one disease, but is a group of related diseases that can damage the optic nerve and cause blindness. An atypical type of glaucoma is angle-closure glaucoma, which can develop quickly and needs to be treated just as quickly.

With this type of glaucoma, the drains that typically carry fluid out of the eye become blocked and the pressure suddenly rises.

Symptoms include severe pain and nausea, blurred vision, and redness of the eye. Usually, however, other forms of glaucoma usually take years to develop.

According to WebMD you are in a high-risk category if you: Are of African-American, Irish, Russian, Japanese, Hispanic, Inuit, or Scandinavian descent. Are over age 40. Have a family history of glaucoma. Have poor vision. Have diabetes. Take systemic corticosteroid medications, such as prednisone.

The Nevada Regional Medical Clinic is holding a free Glaucoma Screening on Monday, Jan. 11, in honor of Glaucoma Awareness Month. The screening will be held in the Nevada Regional Medical Center Mezzanine Conference Room from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Participants can schedule an appointment by calling the NRMC Community Education Department at (417) 448-3622.