Bad driving may be due to glaucoma —Expert

An eye expert, Dr Olutoke Ayorinde has cautioned Nigerians to be wary of drivers that continually experience minor damages resulting from accidents on one side of their vehicles, saying such drivers may actually be on the way to becoming blind due to glaucoma.

Dr Ayorinde, a consultant community ophthalmologist, stated this during this year’s World Glaucoma Day celebration at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State and free eye screening exercise.

According to her, a significant loss in side vision due to glaucoma may account for such accidents, particularly when one side of the vehicle is most often affected.

The eye expert, noting that glaucoma was the second most common cause of blindness in the world, stated that the eye problem initially does not give any symptom.

According to her, “central vision is the last thing to be affected, that is what is seen directly. Before then, the side vision would have gone.”

Dr Ayorinde, describing glaucoma as a preventable and treatable cause of irreversible blindness, stated that people most at risk of developing the eye condition includes people of black origin, with high intraocular pressure (IOP), family history of blindness, older people and those that had experienced eye injury in the past.

In addition, she stated that smoking, use of alcohol and diseases like diabetes may also worsen the eye problem.

Glaucoma, a silent thief of sight, she said is increasingly now diagnosed in young Nigerians, a situation she said calls for people to be more proactive about their eye health.

“It is not that glaucoma in the younger patients is different, but the rate at which blindness can result from it is faster. So instead of getting to the dead end, why do not you pick it early, do something about it and ensure that your vision is kept for long,” she declared.

The expert, who remarked that blindness should not be a sign of ageing as many presumed, stated “this week we wanted to create the awareness that glaucoma is here with us, that blindness from it is preventable and that it is a treatable disease.”

While stressing the need for regular eye tests, she urged people not to change  their prescription glasses without a prior eye test to ensure early detection of eye problems like glaucoma.

Ayorinde also cautioned against patronising road side opticians, saying a detailed eye examination should not be just asking to read and trying on some lenses.

“Glaucoma is not reversible, but its early detection and proper management prevents this blindness and this indeed can save a lot of fortune,” she concluded.