Glaucoma Awareness Month

I would like to start by wishing you all a Healthy and Happy 2024!

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month and what better way to start the year than by raising awareness about glaucoma.  

As you are all familiar, the key with glaucoma is early diagnosis, and the best way to pick up glaucoma early is to ensure that you get regular eye tests with your optometrist.

Please use this as an opportunity to encourage your friends and family, who have not been to the optician in the last 12 months, to get an eye test.

I have endeavoured to keep you all up to date with the latest innovation is eye health, in particular glaucoma. There has never been as may effective and safe treatment options for glaucoma as we have at present.

With the increased use of selective laser trabeculoplasty in both newly diagnosed, as well as established glaucoma, the need for multiple, lifelong glaucoma drops is reducing. In conjunction with this, the ever expanding area of minimally invasive glaucoma surgery continues to show exciting promise.

Last month I was delighted to announce that Innovation Eye Clinic is the only private provider in the UK to offer Excimer Laser Trabeculostomy (ELT), which is the latest minimally invasive glaucoma surgery and is showing very promising results.

My long-term ambition for glaucoma is to try and make as many patients’ journey free of eye drops for as long as possible. Now, with the combination of selective laser trabeculoplasty and minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, this is becoming a possibility for many.  I will continue to work on research projects to look more closely at quality of life and ocular comfort in glaucoma patients.