Bangalore: Glaucoma can take away productive years of a person's life and should be accorded priority to treatment, Frank Howes, Glaucoma Specialist from the Vision Group, Queensland, Australia, said here on Sunday.

He was speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of "Glaucoma update" organised by the Karnataka Ophthalmic Society and the Nethradhama Super Speciality Eye Hospital here. Dr. Howes said that glaucoma was the second leading cause of blindness in India after cataract and the main cause for blindness in African countries.

Loss of vision

"Treatment for glaucoma should be given priority as the eye ailment is irreversible and can only be controlled through treatment but not fully cured. A person who is suffering from glaucoma continues to lose his eyesight, while someone affected by cataract can be cured through a surgical procedure," Dr. Howes said. Speaking on "Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty," which was a form of laser therapy for treating glaucoma, Dr. Howes said that that one application of the laser treatment was enough to control glaucoma in most cases and it could be given in combination with medicines in some patients. "It is also relatively free of side-effects compared to medications and it frees the patient from the hassle of having to remember to use eye drops everyday," he said.

"This new form of laser therapy is better than the ones used earlier such as Argon Laser Trabeculoplasty, wherein there may be some scarring," he added. The treatment was also painless, he added.

This corrective laser treatment for glaucoma was supposed to be a safer alternative compared to the conventional "Argon Laser Trabeculoplasty," and it is a less invasive form of laser therapy, he said.

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