Don't Fall Victim to the Silent Thief of Sight
Out of the blue, Dawn's right eye went blind...
At the same time, her head started pounding and her stomach started hurting so badly that she began vomiting.
An urgent-care doctor advised her to get to the emergency room as soon as possible and then told Dawn the shocking news: she could go blind if she didn't get treatment right away.
An on-call ophthalmologist at the hospital treated her with some eye drops for a few hours, and she ended up staying in the hospital for four days for monitoring.
Dawn had what's called closed-angle glaucoma. This is where pressure in the eye develops suddenly, putting you at risk of blindness. So it's a true medical emergency.
Typical symptoms that come on all of a sudden include severe pain in the eye, headache, cloudy vision, nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity, and seeing halos around lights.
Thankfully, closed-angle glaucoma isn't too common. But open-angle glaucoma is, affecting roughly 95% of folks with glaucoma.
In the U.S., approximately 4.2 million folks have glaucoma, which is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness.
And the scary part is, half of affected Americans don't know they have this incurable disease...
Open-angle glaucoma is characterized by a slow, steady buildup of pressure in the eye. So it has no symptoms, earning the nickname "the silent thief of sight."
Our eyeballs contain aqueous humor, which is a fluid that's constantly flowing in and out of the eye. But if damage is dealt to the "drain," or trabecular meshwork, then the fluid builds up, causing increased pressure that can damage the optic nerve.
However, some people with high eye pressure never develop glaucoma... And some folks develop what's called normal-tension glaucoma where they have normal eye pressure.
Again, glaucoma has no cure. But, you can do three things to help save your eyesight...
1. Get your eyes checked.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends folks aged 40 to 54 get screened for glaucoma every two to four years, folks aged 55 to 64 get screened every one to three years, and folks aged 65 and older get screened every one to two years.
The frequency of your checkups will depend on your exam results and risk factors. Some common risk factors include:
- Being over the age of 55
- Being of Black, Asian, or Hispanic heritage
- Having glaucoma in your family history
- Having certain medical conditions, like diabetes, migraines, or high blood pressure
Finding an eye doctor whom you like working with is also important. Together, you should create an exam schedule that fits your specific needs. If you don't already have one, or if you think it's time to change doctors, ask your friends and family for recommendations.
When you're ready for your appointment, be sure to take with you a list of all your medications. That's because some drugs can worsen or raise your risk of glaucoma.
For example, steroids are taken for common conditions like allergies, asthma, and joint disease... and they also raise eye pressure in open-angle-glaucoma patients. Some other common drugs that raise the risk of exacerbating closed-angle glaucoma include the following: allergy meds like Benadryl, Claritin, Allegra, and Zyrtec, antidepressants like Prozac, Paxil, and Cymbalta, and heartburn meds like Tagamet and Zantac, to name a few.
2. Don't ignore your sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea occurs when you briefly stop breathing during sleep. Common signs include loud snoring, snorting, or gasping during sleep, tossing and turning, and excessive daytime tiredness. A small study from Hokkaido University in Japan found that folks with obstructive sleep apnea are 10 times more likely to have glaucoma than folks without obstructive sleep apnea.
Researchers think that cutting off your oxygen for these short bursts is enough to damage your optic nerve. So if you're waking up at night and choking or gasping for air, or your partner tells you that you're a loud snorer, enroll in a sleep study. Talking with your primary-care doctor and insurance provider will help you locate sleep specialists near you.
3. Get regular exercise.
A 2018 study from the University of Iowa found that folks getting 150 minutes of moderate-intensity (or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity) aerobic exercise per week were nearly 50% less likely to develop glaucoma than folks who did not exercise. And a 2017 study found that regularly getting moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise could lower your risk of developing glaucoma as much as 73%.
Don't neglect your daily movement. Me, I take a brisk 20-minute walk every day. If you miss a day, walk a little bit longer the following day. If you can't walk, move your body however you're able to. Any movement is better than no movement at all.
P.S. For even more health (and wealth) wisdom, I recommend you check out my monthly flagship newsletter Retirement Millionaire. To learn more about a risk-free trial, click here.
What We're Reading...
- Researchers developing "minimally invasive" glaucoma treatments.
- Glaucoma drug shows promise against neurodegenerative diseases.
- Something different: Dogs' and owners' hearts sync up during interaction.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
January 7, 2025