Avoid sacrificing your vision
“I ALWAYS feel like certain forms of blindness shouldn’t be so prevalent, because they are avoidable,” says Datuk Dr Linda Teoh Oon Cheng, consultant ophthalmologist and glaucoma specialist at Subang Jaya Medical Centre. She refers specifically to instances in which patients know that there is a high chance their vision could become damaged, yet do nothing about it.
Avoidable blindness includes conditions such as diabetic retinopathy and cataract. When detected early enough, the diseases can be treated and vision can be restored. According to the Malaysian National Eye Survey published last year, the most common causes of blindness were untreated cataracts (58.6%), diabetic retinopathy (10.4%) and glaucoma (6.6%). Overall, 86.3% of all cases of blindness were avoidable.
“A lot of the time, people think cataracts are caused by ageing and they won’t do anything about it until they find their vision too blurry,” says Dr Teoh. She also advises that unlike in the past, there is now no need to delay cataract removal with the advancement of technology.
“Long ago, people feared surgery because the wound is large and it takes time to heal, so people were advised to wait until their cataract is mature before opting for surgery.”
Having said that, Dr Teoh urges those 55 years old and above to undergo eye screenings at least once a year. She says it is compulsory for those with diabetes, irrespective of age, to attend an eye screening. This is because diabetes can cause changes in your eyes. When your diabetes isn’t controlled, you can get cataracts early, which will affect your vision. “We still have patients who have had diabetes for many years who never attend regular eye check-ups,” she shares.
On the other hand, if your sight is affected by diabetic retinopathy, you can prevent yourself from going blind just by going for your regular screenings and check-ups and treating your diabetes.
Another kind of preventable blindness is glaucoma. While glaucoma cannot be cured, it can be controlled when detected early. A disease known as “the thief of sight”, many patients who have glaucoma are diagnosed in the later stages as it is painless and people don’t know they are losing their sight because they don’t feel pain. They only see the doctor when they realise something is really wrong with their vision and start knocking into things, or even discovering they can’t see as well by accident.
“I once had a patient who had something in his eye, so he closed and rubbed that eye to relieve the itch. To his shock, he then realised he couldn’t see in the other eye. When he went to check, it was discovered that he had already gone blind from glaucoma in one eye.”
Often, patients have incorrect perceptions. Dr Teoh says, “Patients often think everything is curable. Glaucoma patients tend to only ask doctors for help when they’re already at an advanced stage of the disease when we can no longer do anything to restore their vision.”
Glaucoma is related to genetics, so if there is a history of glaucoma in your family, it is advisable to get checked as early as possible, because if detected early on, doctors can assist in preventing it from progressing.