“Glaucoma is a serious vision disease that causes progressive and irreversible deterioration of the optic nerve. If not detected and treated in time, it inevitably leads to total blindness.” For this reason, National Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired (Unadev) decided to take the bull by the horns and launch a vast campaign, called “the Mobile Antenna”. While more than half ignore it, glaucoma affects more than a million French people. Painless and symptomless, this degenerative disease can only be detected with regular screening. Unadev launched this project in order to allow all people likely to develop the disease to undergo free screening.
Among the main risk factors for glaucoma, Unadev recalls: eye strain high, family history, ethnicity, nearsightedness, diabetes, vascular factors such as migraine, corticosteroid use, and age. There are two main types of glaucoma: open-angle glaucoma, the most common, completely painless and asymptomatic, and closed-angle glaucoma, more rare, which is characterized by pain that the patient perceives. In both cases, regular monitoring is necessary to detect the disease and to set up rapid patient management if necessary.
The Mobile Antenna is divided into two parts: the awareness area, to inform the public about the various age-related disorders, and a medical office allowing all patients to benefit from screening for glaucoma risk factors. free. On their arrival, people wishing to be tested are invited to fill out two forms (a medical questionnaire and a patient booklet), before going to the doctor’s office. Three quick and painless exams will then make it possible to establish a precise diagnosis. “This screening is also part of an epidemiological study to better understand this pathology”, concludes Unadev.
For more information, visit the association’s website: http://www.unadev.com.
