Speech for Controlling Glaucoma in Linn/Benton County (Presentation Outline)

Colton Herinckx
1055 words

Thank you ladies and gentlemen of the commissioners council and the Community
Health Centers of Linn and Benton Counties for inviting me to discuss my concerns about
glaucoma in our area with you today. It is perfect that I am able to present to the health service
providers of both Linn and Benton Counties at the same time to address the health of the elderly
in the region. In order to help you follow along with my presentation, I have created fliers which
will briefly summarize the main points I will be explaining. Feel free to keep the fliers, as they
provide valuable information and may be useful to your respective health departments and
clinics.
To start off, Id like to clarify that there are two different major types of glaucoma; primary
open-angle glaucoma and primary angle-closure glaucoma. 75% of those affected with
glaucoma have primary open-angle, leaving the other 25% with primary angle-closure
glaucoma. In addition, there is a third, less common, form known as secondary glaucoma; this is
caused by an already existing separate eye condition, such as a tumor or an eye injury. Due to
the overwhelming popularity of open-angle glaucoma, most of the information Im presenting is
relevant to primary open-angle glaucoma, although there is some overlap (such as treatments,
risk factors, etc.).
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness globally. Worldwide, it is estimated
that around 6 million people suffer from glaucoma. In America, approximately 1.9% of all people
over 40 are affected, and about 50% of the 3 million Americans living with glaucoma arent even
aware that they have it. As I will discuss later on, age plays is one of the biggest risk factors for
glaucoma. This is relevant to both Linn and Benton county in particular as the percentage of
seniors living in each county has grown in the last 6 years.
If youll look at the center graph on the front page of the flier, youll notice that glaucoma
is a growing disease; from 2000 to 2010, there was about a 23% increase, and researchers are
predicting that glaucoma cases will continue to grow at a similar rate (see graph on bottom
right). If you turn your attention to the left bottom graph on the front, the glaucoma prevalence is
broken down by age group and ethnicity. The data shows that glaucoma strikes earlier
specifically in African Americans and progresses more rapidly, but I was unable to find any
research as to why. Women are more likely to be affected by glaucoma than men. While
researchers arent entirely sure why women appear to be more vulnerable, its hypothesized
that its most likely due to the fact that women outlive men. This makes perfect sense, as its
evident that ones chances of suffering from glaucoma steeply increase with age.
Glaucoma has few to no warning signs. There is a small chance that those suffering
early on may notice indicators such as hazy vision, floating spots, intense eye and/or head pain,
or vision loss, but glaucoma is almost always initially asymptomatic. In the beginning, those
suffering from glaucoma will slowly lose their peripheral vision. Since the process is often
gradual, they will compensate by turning their head to look off to the side, and are very often
unaware of the fact that they are slowly losing peripheral vision. The glaucoma continues to
work its way in, causing tunnel vision until eventually no vision is left (when left untreated). It is
fairly common for the person to be entirely unaware of their status until an eye exam.
Relatively little is known about the actual causes of glaucoma. While we know that
glaucoma is a result of damage and deterioration of the optic nerve, we dont know what
prompts it. Once the optic nerve has been damaged, the damage is permanent. Glaucoma is
often associated with an increase in eye pressure due to a buildup of fluid which is either unable
to drain properly or is overproduced. As of right now, there are no known ways to prevent
glaucoma, and more research needs to be done.
While there is no cure for glaucoma, some treatments are available. If youll flip over
your fliers you can follow along with the various treatment and prevention methods we currently
know of. Tertiary prevention may include treatments such as eye drops to correct fluid buildup,
pills, and/or surgery when the other methods dont effectively reduce pressure. Although these
treatments can help slow the rate the glaucoma progresses at, keep in mind that all damage
done to this point is irreversible and will not restore the glaucoma patients vision. As for
secondary prevention, the best thing that can be done are eye exams. Individuals 40 and over
should be screened for glaucoma every 2-4 years, especially if they belong to a minority group
or have a family history of glaucoma. Its recommended that African Americans begin slightly
earlier at age 35. Primary prevention for glaucoma is tough since we dont know what causes
the disease. Its recommended to exercise regularly, wear eye protection, and routinely
schedule eye exams.
Glaucoma is such a big deal because of relatively low awareness and a general lack of
knowledge about the causes/cures of the disease. Since glaucoma is often asymptomatic and
results in permanent damage, most will suffer from lasting damage before the disease is caught.
One program working to raise awareness and find treatments for diseases leading to blindness,
including glaucoma, is the CDCs Vision Health Initiative. The Vision Health Initiative has
teamed up with Healthy People 2020 and set a goal of decreasing glaucoma prevalence in
people over 45. While they are continuing to research the causes of glaucoma and looking for a
cure, we can do our part here in Linn and Benton County to reduce glaucoma prevalence by
raising awareness and encouraging high-risk groups to schedule eye exams. This leads us to a
few discussion questions Ive prepared:

Discussion Questions

What are some other things you would like to know about glaucoma before funding a
prevention/treatment program?

What are some barriers we may encounter while trying to raise awareness in Linn/Benton
County?

What other concerns do you have that I may not have touched on yet?