JANUARY IS GLAUCOMA AWARENESS MONTH, AND IT IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF PERMANENT VISION LOSS AND BLINDNESS HERE IN THE U.S. TODAY, WE’RE JOINED BY DOCTOR DESTINY DRAKULICH FROM UNMC. SO FOR PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW WHAT IS GLAUCOMA, WELL, GLAUCOMA IS ACTUALLY A VERY COMPLEX DISEASE. AND THERE’S MULTIPLE FORMS OF IT. THE MOST COMMON ONE IS WHAT’S CALLED PRIMARY OPEN ANGLE GLAUCOMA. AND THAT IS WHERE THERE’S DAMAGE TO THE OPTIC NERVE DUE TO AN INCREASE IN PRESSURE INSIDE OF THE EYE. OKAY. AND THEN ALSO WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SYMPTOMS OF GLAUCOMA. WELL, THE SYMPTOMS OF GLAUCOMA ARE GENERALLY A LOSS OF PERIPHERAL VISION. SO VISION THAT DIMS FROM THE SIDE TOWARDS THE CENTER. THE PROBLEM WITH GLAUCOMA IS THAT IT’S A VERY SLOW MOVING DISEASE. AND IT’S GENERALLY PAINLESS. SO OFTENTIMES WE CAN HAVE VISION LOSS BEFORE WE EVEN REALIZE IT. AND SO WHEN YOU SEE PATIENTS COME IN WHERE ARE YOU USUALLY SEEING THEM AT. IS IT PRETTY FULL ON OR EARLY. WELL, WELL WE SEE BOTH. OKAY. UM, AT THE MED CENTER, YOU KNOW, WE PREFER, OF COURSE, TO SEE THE EARLY ONES, AND IT’S SO IMPORTANT TO GET SCREENED FOR GLAUCOMA. UM, BUT WE DO SEE ALL GAMUTS OF IT. SO THE EARLY STAGES TO THE WHAT WE REFER TO AS END STAGE GLAUCOMA. HOW DO YOU. WELL, FIRST, IS THERE A CURE FOR GLAUCOMA? NO, NO. THERE IS NO CURE FOR GLAUCOMA. WE CAN PREVENT DAMAGE DUE TO TO GLAUCOMA, BUT THERE’S NO ACTUAL CURE FOR GLAUCOMA. OKAY. AND THEN ALSO, UM, HOW CAN PEOPLE DO KIND OF KNOW SOME OF THOSE EARLY SIGNS? WELL, IT IS VERY HARD BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO PAIN ASSOCIATED WITH GLAUCOMA. UM, IT REALLY IS A SCREENING PROCESS. AND WE WE SCREEN EVERY PATIENT THAT COMES IN FOR AN EYE EXAM, GETS SCREENED FOR GLAUCOMA. AND I RECOMMEND PATIENTS YOU KNOW, GET SCREENED YEARLY IF THEY HAVE A FAMILY HISTORY OF GLAUCOMA AND BI ANNUALLY IF THERE’S NO HISTORY, BUT AT LEAST TO BE SCREENED FOR IT BECAUSE CATCHING IT EARLY IS KEY, WE CAN WE CAN’T REVERSE THE DAMAGE DONE BY GLAUCOMA, BUT WE CAN PREVENT FUTURE DAMAGE AND WHAT DOES IS IT JUST GOING TO YOUR EYE DOCTOR TO FOR A SCREENING? YES, ABSOLUTELY. YOUR OPTOMETRIST OR YOUR OPHTHALMOLOGIST CAN SCREEN YOU FOR GLAUCOMA. AND WHAT IS THE SCREENING PROCESS USUALLY REALLY IT STARTS WITH A PRESSURE TEST. UM, IT CHECKS THE EYE PRESSURE. UM, WE LOOK AT THE OPTIC NERVE, WE LOOK AT THE EYE HEALTH IN GENERAL. UM, AND THEN WE ALSO ASK QUESTIONS LIKE FAMILY HISTORY, UM, JUST TO KIND OF GET SOME, SOME IDEA OF IF YOU’RE AT RISK FOR GLAUCOMA BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE ARE AT HIGHER RISK THAN OTHERS, AND WHO ARE THOSE GROUPS OF PEOPLE? WELL, AGE IS DEFINITELY A RISK FACTOR WITH GLAUCOMA, PEOPLE OVER THE AGE OF 60 ARE AT HIGHER RISK. NOW. GLAUCOMA CAN AFFECT YOU AT ANY AGE, BUT MOST COMMONLY IT’S IT’S AN AGE RELATED, UM, PEOPLE BLACK OR HISPANIC, TEND TO BE AT HIGHER RISK FOR GLAUCOMA. AND PEOPLE WITH A FAMILY HISTORY. THERE IS DEFINITELY A HEREDITARY COMPONENT TO GLAUCOMA. OKAY. I THINK THAT’S ALL WE HAVE.