One day, 64-year-old Ms. Chen felt sudden headache, nausea and constant vomiting. At first, she thought that it was because she ate something wrong and stopped consuming food temporarily. She only drank porridge water that the maids cooked. However, the headaches and vomiting did not improve after a day and it got more serious. Her eyesight was blurry too. Fortunately, her married daughter visited her and saw the situation. She was shocked and took Ms Chen to the hospital emergency department for diagnosis immediately.

After checking the doctor diagnosed her with acute glaucoma and high eye pressure as the cause of the headaches and vomiting. The doctor gave her eye drops and arranged for a laser treatment immediately.

Ms Chen had previously undergone cataract surgery in her 50s after which, she had good eyesight. She did not expect glaucoma to suddenly strike, still thinking that it was food poisoning. Thankfully, her daughter sent her to the hospital in time otherwise, the consequences are unimaginable.

Many people have an inexplicable fear when it comes to glaucoma because it can lead to blindness.

Glaucoma accounts for 34% of the blind people in Singapore. It is the second biggest cause of blindness in Asia, cataracts being the first. However, if patients suffering from glaucoma can get treatment in time with proper control, blindness can be prevented. But if not treated, all types of glaucoma can lead to irreversible blindness in patients.

Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) eye care consultant Dr Desmond Quek said that glaucoma is an eye disease with characteristic optic nerve damage that causes irreversible visual impairment. In most cases, an increase in intraocular pressure is a common feature. Due to the patient's optic nerve, the degree of tolerance of intraocular pressure and damage caused varies from persons to persons.

Glaucoma is often referred to as the "vision thief" because the patient is only suffering from impaired peripheral vision in the early stages which cannot be easily detected. However, central and reading visions are usually damaged only in the later stages of the disease. Therefore, glaucoma patients often do not have obvious symptoms until the later stages of the disease. At this point, most patients would have already irreversibly lost their vision.

Regardless of a person's stage in life, healthy vision is important for his quality of life. Therefore, talk to the doctors at the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) about the eye diseases that the elderly and adults face to discuss about the causes, symptoms and the latest treatments for these diseases.