What Do You Know About GLAUCOMA?

• Position: Quiz: knowledge about glaucoma - Brief Article - Illustration

By the year 2000, there will be 66,800,000 people worldwide with glaucoma. Take the following true-false test, prepared by Apco Associates, Inc., Sacramento, Calif., to reveal how much you know about the condition:

1. Glaucoma doesn't cause blindness.

2. If my vision is okay, I don't have glaucoma.

3. My eyes would hurt or feel different if I had glaucoma.

4. If I'm not older than 65 years, I don't have to worry about glaucoma.

5. If I have been checked for glasses recently, I have been checked for glaucoma.

6. My doctor said my pressures are normal, so I don't have glaucoma.

7. I have been checked for glaucoma once, so I don't have to be examined again.

8. The air puff test is good enough to tell if I have glaucoma.

9. Glaucoma can be prevented with proper diet and exercise.

10. Glaucoma requires surgery to be cured.

    ANSWERS

1. False. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of irreversible blindness in the U.S.

2. False. Glaucoma does not impact on your vision until the very late stages of the disease. It affects your peripheral vision first, so your ability to read an eye chart will not suffer.

3. False. The most common type--primary open-angle glaucoma--does not cause any pain or discomfort. The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) estimates that more than half of the people in the U.S. who have the disease are not aware of it.

4. False. The AAO recommends regular glaucoma exams for everyone at least every three to five years. The incidence of glaucoma rises in people over 40, so they should be tested every two to four years. Over the age of 65, you should be tested every one to two years.

5. False. A routine exam for glasses does not always include a glaucoma test.

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