The number of reported cases of glaucoma, an eye condition that can lead to blindness, has risen by more than 25 per cent in the past three years, according to new figures from the National Council for the Blind in Ireland (NCBI.)
The condition is most prevalent in people aged 60 and older and accounts for some 8 per cent of vision loss among the registered blind in Ireland.
Vision loss occurs when an increase of fluid builds pressure within the eye and damages the the nerve associated with sight. Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent damage to the optic nerve leading to blindness.
According to Prof Colm O'Brien, consultant ophthalmologist in the Mater Hospital, Dublin, the increase in glaucoma patients is largely a result of increasing life spans and failures in early diagnosis and treatment.
"More people are living into old age now. As a result, we're picking up more diseases and more eye diseases," he said. "More people now need treatment and there's a challenge to recognise patients early."
Because glaucoma cannot be treated once vision loss has begun, Prof O'Brien suggests that people in their mid-40s and older have regular tests when they visit the optometrist for a check-up or to be fitted for reading glasses.
"The onset is usually in your late 50s or early 60s, so remind people when they're 45 or 50 they should get their eyes checked," he said. "All the evidence shows that if you catch people early and detect it early, they won't go blind."
People with a family history of glaucoma and diabetes sufferers have a higher risk for the condition. Prof O'Brien said those individuals should begin regular tests when they are 30 years old.
Once detected, glaucoma is treated with increasingly advanced eye drops. Although patients have to continue with the eye drop regime for the rest of their life, Prof O'Brien said the treatment was almost universally successful.
"Ninety-nine per cent of people do very well with eye drops and there are several newer forms available to us in the last 10 years that have made a huge impact," he said.
"They are so effective that the number of eye operations for glaucoma has fallen by about 50 per cent in the developed world."
Because symptoms are not detectable without a glaucoma test, Prof O'Brien said professional examinations were the only guarantee that the condition would be caught before it's too late.
"The trouble is that if you notice any loss of vision from glaucoma, it's usually too far advanced to treat it," he said. "It creeps up on you unknown and whatever damage is done is done - you can't recover what's been lost."