Keep a close eye on your sight

Up to 5000 Marlburians could be putting their eye health at risk by not visiting an optometrist, a study has revealed.

A Yougov survey, commissioned by Specsavers, showed that in June 89 per cent of Kiwis said they had experienced a problem with their eyes.

One in five of this number, or 18 per cent of New Zealanders, had not sought help for eye troubles.

Blenheim optometrist Alan Brown said he often saw middle-aged patients who have never had their eyes tested before, sometimes visiting only because they have failed the eye screening test when updating their driving licence.

‘‘Last month I had a person who was referred because they had failed the AA machine,’’ said Brown, who has worked at Specsavers Blenheim for eight years and has been an optometrist for 30. ‘‘That person came in earlier this week and said they had a brain tumour.’’

Brown said sight was usually the sense people would be least happy to lose – but it is common for people to ignore or self-diagnose eye troubles, such as picking up a set of ‘‘hobby’’ glasses at the chemist.

A patient had recently visited Brown’s optometrist only because he could not find hobby glasses any stronger. It turned out the patient had glaucoma.

‘‘It could have been caught 10 years ago rather than him making do with hobby glasses.’’

Glaucoma is a sight-stealing eye disease in which the optic nerve becomes damaged, and does not allow visual information to travel from the eye to the brain. Vision loss because of glaucoma cannot be restored.

Nelson Marlborough Health Head of ophthamology Derek Sherwood said the statistics were consistent with the health board’s observations.

He said anyone with a concern or change in their vision should see an optometrist for an eye check. ‘‘It is recommended that people from age 45 should have a check for glaucoma, repeated every 5 years until age 60, and every three years after that.’’

As with macular degeneration, glaucoma is an eye disease that is best found and treated early. Brown said a new piece of equipment – an ocular coherence tomographer – was able to test for pre-symptomatic glaucoma.

Brown had a personal connection to this particular eye disease, after watching his grandmother go blind from glaucoma when he was a teenager. It was this experience that inspired him to study optometry.

Diabetes – the most common cause of blindness in the Western World – can also be picked up by eye health tests, Brown said. ‘‘The Type 2 we can detect – we can see it in the eye if you’ve either had it for a long period of time or if you’ve got it really bad really quickly.’’

While Brown recommended a routine eye checkup at least every two years, there were some warning signs which should not be ignored.

Flashing lights and rapidly changing vision – vision that is not the same from one day to the next – should always be checked out by an optometrist. Double vision is also a warning sign, because it can indicate nerve issues which may be linked to the brain.