Glaucoma Alert: Barbara Payne Could Have Prevented Her Blindness

Glaucoma left untreated causes blindness 100% of the time. It is a chilling statistic that half the people who have glaucoma don’t even know they have it. Just because a person has it does not mean they will go blind.

[USPRwire, Wed Jan 19 2011] January is Glaucoma Awareness Month. That’s a big deal because African Americans between the ages of 45 and 65, are an astonishing 15 times more likely to go blind from glaucoma than Caucasians with glaucoma in the same age group.

Harold Payne, Barbara’s brother has it, he is a professional photographer and his eyesight is fine. Dr. Alan Robin, MD, is a glaucoma specialist and also an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at renowned Johns Hopkins University. He provides helpful, proven advice and the solution so anyone can avoid what happened to Barbara.


"The Payne family is an excellent example of how this disease can strike," said Dr. Alan Robin, who is a Baltimore glaucoma specialist and also an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at renowned Johns Hopkins University. Ron Payne's sister, Barbara was a social worker in New York City before she quit her job to take care of her mother who was also diagnosed with glaucoma late in life. Ironically, like many patients, Barbara was not vigilant in taking her medication and later couldn't afford the drops. Her vision gradually deteriorated until, after her mother had died blind, she too was no longer able to see. "My brother Harold is 72 years old and he was diagnosed the same day as my sister nearly 50 years ago. He been very diligent about putting it the eye drops that he has been prescribed. His sight is fine today," said Payne.

"One-third of all patients who get a prescription for glaucoma don't even fill it. 40-to-50% of people just stop taking their medicine within the first year. There are lots of different reasons why people don't use the drops from affordability to people who just can't put drops in their eye," said Dr. Robin.

Think about is another way. If you forget to take drops one day a week that may not seem like much. But over the course of the year, that's almost two months worth of neglect. The disease worsens and there's no turning back. Any damage to the eye caused by glaucoma is irreversible.

• About 2% of the population from the age of 40-to-50 has elevated intraocular pressure, which indicates glaucoma.

• If you don't treat it, you're going to go blind.

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