September 25 glaucoma program looks into old age
August 20, 2007A new Rural Health Education Foundation program airing on Tuesday 25 September discusses promising areas of future research into prevention and reversal of glaucoma and macular degeneration.
Seeing into Old Age: Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, discusses traditional and emerging diagnosis and treatments for each condition.
The program includes case studies and presents key information about prevention, clinical detection and ongoing management.
Featuring a panel of experts
The all new program, which airs on the Foundation’s satellite network at 8pm (EST) on Tuesday 25 September, with a repeat at 12.30pm on Friday 28 September, brings together an expert panel.
The program features Professor Hugh Ringland Taylor (pictured), Managing Director of the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA), and Sydney Eye Hospital and Orange Eye Centre Opthalmologist Dr Mark Gorbatov. The panel also includes Pharmaceutical Society of Australia spokesperson Dr Geraldine Moses, Mr Nicholas Hansen, a Rural Optometrist from Orange NSW, and Dr Christopher Hopwood, a Rural General Practitioner from Dunedoo in NSW.
Eye-opening statistics
Macular degeneration and glaucoma sit at the top of the list of vision disorders as the leading causes of both irreversible and preventable blindness for Australians aged over 55 years.
Glaucoma affects 2.3% (109,300 people) of the Australian population aged over 55. A staggering 50% of patients with glaucoma are unaware they have the disease, which when left undiagnosed and untreated can greatly reduce quality of life for those affected. Non-diagnosis is common because the peripheral vision is affected, often at a slow and subtle rate.
Macular degeneration affects a greater number of Australians, with 3.1% or 147,000 of people aged over 55 having the disease. The effects of macular degeneration are more debilitating than glaucoma because it affects the central vision and onset can occur rapidly and with little warning.
More information
For full details of the program, visit the Seeing into Old Age: Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration program page http://www.rhef.com.au/programs/program-1/?program_id=51&group_id=15
