Eyes-Road - Another vision of EDI > All Blog > Métier d’Opticien > Comment sensibiliser vos clients au dépistage du glaucome ?

How to make your clients aware of glaucoma screening?

Reading time : 3 minutes

glaucoma screening 2

Did you know that glaucoma was the leading cause of total blindness and that it now affects 1 million people in France? However, 400 000 French would be reached without knowing it! Considered a "silent" disease, glaucoma is easily detected by rapid and painless examination. Age, family history … learn about risk factors to better help you educate your clients about glaucoma screening.

What is glaucoma?

To explain to your customers in three words what glaucoma is: it's a " vision thief "! This ocular disease affects the optic nerve, the link between the eye and the brain, and the visual field. It is due to a rise in eye pressure . There are two main types of glaucoma: the acute form , relatively rare and the chronic form , more common. Asymptomatic , this affection is not necessarily felt by its wearer and evolves silently .

Screening for glaucoma

glaucoma screening 3

Opticians , so it's crucial for you to educate your clientele about glaucoma screening !

Indeed, early diagnosis and regular follow-up can help contain this disease through appropriate treatments and maintain good vision over time . All that is required is an examination by the ophthalmologist who then performs a so-called tonometry test (the measure of eye pressure), as well as a photograph of the back of the eye to examine the iridocorneal angle and the optic nerve. . This exam is painless and only takes a few minutes! A history questionnaire can also be administered. And for good reason, if screening for glaucoma becomes essential at age 40, some subjects are more at risk than others.

Known risk factors include :

  • Age: if there are rare forms of juvenile glaucoma, the risks increase with it
  • Myopia or farsightedness: Myopic people are more prone to open-angle glaucoma and people with farsightedness are at risk for angle-closure glaucoma
  • Diabetes: the risks increase with this one
  • Family history: the risks are 5 times higher in people related to a patient with glaucoma
  • Ethnicity: the risks are 4 times higher in people whose skin is darkest
  • Gender: women are more affected than men

The glaucoma bus

glaucoma screening 4

Each year in March, World Glaucoma Awareness Week , a week of glaucoma prevention. On this occasion, since 2011, UNADEV organizes with the support of the France Glaucoma Association , the French Glaucoma Society and the French Society of Ophthalmology , a French tour dedicated to glaucoma screening . The famous " Bus Glaucoma " ( see the cities and dates ) and offers the general public free screening , all over France. Objectives: to inform on the pathology and to detect the greatest number!

Opticians, do not hesitate to contact these organizations who will be able to provide you with supports to facilitate awareness of glaucoma screening.

[Embed] https://youtu.be/a94S8wVF4sw [/ embed]

Back to Blog