Today, Friday, March 12, was World Glaucoma Day.  It’s not a highly-recognized day I’m afraid, but millions of people around the world suffer from this disease which affects the eyes.  Anyone who has ever visited an eye doctor will have been tested for it but many more people have not.

Glaucoma is a disease that affects the optic nerve and leads to irreversible vision loss.  It involves elevated fluid pressure in the eyes.  Those who are at the greatest risk have diabetes, high blood pressure, nearsightedness, stress, nutritional deficiencies and are smokers.  Over 300,000 people have been diagnosed with it in Canada, 2 million in the U.S. and over 67 million worldwide.  Our numbers are not that great here in Canada but at least they are better than other countries, likely due to our tendency to visit an eye doctor every few years.  Many more of us have quit smoking.

Glaucoma involves the gradual loss of peripheral vision (out of the corner of your eye), a decrease in night vision, tunnel vision and the ability of the eye to adjust to darkness.  It will rob you of your independence by causing you to lose your driver’s license and your ability to read, watch TV or use the computer, all things that most of us rely on every day. Even though it is not a very well-understood or recognized disease, it is nevertheless a dangerous one.

There are several important nutrients that we need to consume each day in order to keep Glaucoma at bay.  These include B vitamins, Essential Fatty Acids, Vitamins A, C, E and Magnesium.  If you pair them with exercise, lots of water, the proper blood type diet, an avoidance of prolonged eye stress, no tobacco, little alcohol and no caffeine for the specified blood types, your chances of being diagnosed with Glaucoma will be greatly diminished.  Your sight is your most important sense since most people are visual.  Don’t lose “sight” of yours!