How good is your eye health?
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While sight is said to be the sense that people fear losing the most, many of us don’t recognise the vital importance of maintaining good eye health. During this year’s National Eye Health Week we talk to Professor Rupert Bourne, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital and Addenbrooke’s Hospital, where he directs the Cambridge Eye Research Centre. He leads the international Vision Loss Expert Group that provides the world’s data on vision loss and its causes.
With a focus on eye health awareness, Professor Bourne answers your questions.
I’m worried about having an eye exam
Getting an eye test is the best thing you can do for your eye health – it is simple and painless. Regular eye checks are vitally important, particularly if there is a family history of vision problems. Indeed, everyone in the UK over the age of 60 is eligible for a free eye test at an optometrist, and if you have a parent or sibling with glaucoma you can take a free test from the age of 40. Eye tests can detect early signs of glaucoma, which can be treated if found early enough, before causing vision impairment.
What are cataracts and what are the symptoms?
Cataracts are when the lens, a small transparent disc inside your eye, develops cloudy patches which can cause glare with oncoming headlights or in low sun conditions. Over time these patches usually become bigger, causing blurred vision and if you wear glasses often this results in needing to change one’s glasses more frequently. The eyesight gradually deteriorates and can lead to reversible blindness. Cataract is the world’s commonest cause of blindness.
How are cataracts diagnosed and treated?
Cataracts are easily diagnosed with an eye test by an optician or ophthalmologist. Cataract surgery through removal of the cataract and replacement by an artificial plastic lens is usually undertaken as a day case operation under local anaesthetic.
What is glaucoma?
Glaucoma is an eye disease affecting the optic nerve that transmits information from the retina to the brain enabling you to see clearly. This condition affects an estimated half a million people in the UK, some losing their sight as a result. Unfortunately it remains the most common cause of irreversible blindness worldwide.
What are the symptoms?
Glaucoma is often identified at a routine sight test as there are sometimes no symptoms. Most people are affected without knowing, until the late stages of glaucoma when irreversible damage to sight has already happened. Regular tests after diagnosis will be required to ensure that your sight remains stable.
How is it diagnosed?
A routine eye test by an optometrist is usually sufficient to make the diagnosis and this is then followed by a full eye examination carried out by an ophthalmologist. As raised eye pressures are a risk factor for glaucoma, there will be a painless measurement of eye pressure. Additionally there will be an examination of the optic nerve and a visual field test to check the function of your optic nerves.
What are the treatments?
While there is no way of reversing damage that has already occurred with glaucoma, there are treatments to keep it under control and stop the disease damaging more of the visual field. These range from eye drops and laser treatment to minimally invasive glaucoma surgeries and more invasive but well-tested glaucoma surgery called a trabeculectomy – first invented in Cambridge!
What should I do next?
Once you have spoken to your GP or seen your optician, you’ll want to progress your best way forward. Many eye care patients are cared for at Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital with specialist imaging equipment to detect, diagnose and treat the earliest onset of eye disease. A screening appointment can help set your mind at rest if you have concerns.
Professor Rupert Bourne holds his clinic at Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital, 4 Trumpington Road, Cambridge CB2 8AF. For more information, visit nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/cambridge, call 01223 370922 or email cambridge.enquiries@nuffieldhealth.com.
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