BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Mar. 13.2018 – MEDICAL officials in St. Kitts and Nevis are seeing increasing numbers of persons being diagnosed with Glaucoma.
In a speech to mark World Glaucoma Week yesterday (Mar.12), Junior Minister of Health, Hon. Wendy Phipps disclosed that at the end of 2017, there were 1,525 registered persons with the eye problem.
Breaking down that figure, Phipps explained that the number of clients accessing Glaucoma Care in 2017 was 1,231, with an additional 191 new cases, and a further 116 being suspected cases.
Defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as group of eye diseases, Glaucoma causes progressive damage to the Optic Nerve which is primarily responsible for vision.
According to Phipps, the Optic Nerve’s main function is to carry images to the brain, adding that in a normal eye, the watery or aqueous fluid produced by the layer of cells behind the iris passes through the hole in the middle of the iris, to leave the eye through a series of tiny drains.
“In glaucoma patients, this fluid does not pass properly through the drainage system and, as a result, the pressure in the eye increases and places stress on the optic nerve. Over time, the constant pressure damages the nerve fibres.”
WHO points to two types of Glaucoma: (a) Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG), whose onset is slow, subtle and harmful; and (b) Angle Closure Glaucoma (ACG), which is acuter and less common.
“Regardless of the type of glaucoma one has been diagnosed with, what is undeniable is that the disease results in the progressive loss of side vision, often referred to as peripheral vision. Left untreated, central vision loss can develop,
followed by eventual blindness,” Phipps said.
Described as ‘the silent thief of sight’, the disease only manifests when it is far advanced and irreversible damage to the sight has been done.
“Once vision is lost to glaucoma it cannot be corrected,” the Minister stated, adding that the disease is the 2nd most common cause of blindness globally, with Cataracts being deemed the leading cause.
According to reports, some 6 million people in the world are blind as a result of Glaucoma.
