February is Save Your Vision Month
Each year millions of Americans lose vision due to disease, accidents and injuries. Are you at risk for losing your eyesight? We have some advice to help protect you from becoming a statistic. You should have your eyes checked regularly by either an ophthalmologist or optometrist. Early detection is the key to reducing or preventing vision loss from diseases such as glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Some eye diseases require regular visits to an ophthalmologist for monitoring. Glaucoma is a group of diseases typically associated with elevated pressure inside the eye that can damage the optic nerve and cause vision loss. Usually there are no warning signs. The earlier glaucoma is diagnosed and treated, the more likely you can retain your vision. It can affect anyone, but patients who are African-Americans, Latin-Americans and smokers are mostly at risk. If you fall under one of these categories, you should see an ophthalmologist