concludes the World Glaucoma Week for the fifth year in a row

Within the activities of the World Glaucoma Week, and in its fifth year in a row, the Ophthalmology Department at King Abdulaziz University launched an awareness campaign for glaucoma on Monday, 26/3/2016.

Which aims to raise the level of community awareness of this disease and the importance of periodic examination for it.

The event was supervised by a group of consultants in the ophthalmology department

Dr. Nizar Al-Habashi, head of the ophthalmology department at King Abdulaziz University,

Dr. Usama Badeeb is a professor and consultant ophthalmologist.

Dr. Nawwaf Al-Marzouki, Assistant Professor and Consultant Ophthalmologist

And in the presence of the Director of the University Hospital, Dr. Amr Al-Habashi, and the doctors of other departments.

The campaign was organized by: The Student Club of Ophthalmology at King Abdulaziz University.

The campaign targets the community in general in terms of awareness and in particular for the groups most vulnerable to the disease, namely:

People over forty years of age, those with a family history of glaucoma, people who use cortisone therapy

The World Health Organization stated that glaucoma is the second cause of blindness worldwide, and the statistics of the Saudi Ophthalmological Society indicated that it is the third cause of vision loss in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

It is estimated that 4.5 million people worldwide have lost their ability to see due to glaucoma and that this number will increase to 11.2 million people by 2020.

Dr. Nawaf Al-Marzouki explained what blue water is about in the campaign: It is a group of eye diseases that cause permanent blindness as a result of optic nerve atrophy. This disease has been called (the thief of silent vision) because the patient loses his ability to see gradually without feeling.

This disease is accompanied in most cases by an increase in intraocular pressure and is often diagnosed at a late stage because there are no symptoms indicating it and its percentage increases in the elderly (over the age of 40 years).

This chronic disease is detected clinically by examining the pressure of the eye, the optic nerve, in addition to the visual field, using the latest devices.

And this disease is treated with specific s that must be maintained for life, and in the event that the situation is not stable with the s, the doctor resorts to surgical intervention.