Hospital da Luz Oeiras will offer, on March 17, in the scope of World Glaucoma Week, free screening for this disease. The initiative will take place in the Ophthalmology observation rooms (building B, floor -1), between 9:00 a.m. and 13:00 p.m., requiring previous scheduling via e-mail tecnicos.ortoptica.oeiras@hospitaldaluz.pt (with limited enrolment). Glaucoma is a disease that causes irreversible alteration of the optical nerve. If not detected in time, is causes progressive loss of vision and blindness – hence being known as “vision’s silent thief”. World Glaucoma Week – between 11 and 17 March – is an initiative from the World Glaucoma Association, gathering entities in the health area of ophthalmology and patients’ organizations. In Portugal, this disease is estimated to affect over 100 thousand people. Anyone can develop glaucoma, but some people present a higher risk: family history, diabetes, people with thin cornea or structural alteration of the optical nerve, black people and patients heavily medicated with corticosteroids. Ocular tension is one of the factors predisposing to glaucoma, although having ocular hypertension is not the same as having glaucoma, that only occurs when the optical nerve is damaged. But both, ocular hypertension and glaucoma, are only symptoms in an advanced phase of the disease. Therefore, early diagnosis, through specific screening, is the most efficient way to fight the disease.
