THE migraines were so bad she felt like throwing up.

Four years ago, housewife Ser Ngin Feh, also had spells when her eyesight would go blur.

Startled, she went to a doctor, and even had her brain scanned. The 62-year-old said: "I even thought I had a tumour."

Instead, it was glaucoma, a disease of the optic nerve, which is often caused by a build-up of pressure in the eye.

The disease is usually painless and symptomless, and causes a gradual loss of sight till the sufferer goes blind.

To relieve the pressure, she had laser treatment, but then didn't go back for follow-ups for four years, she said. "I was scared, I didn't want to know about my condition," she said.

This year, she started having periods of blurred sight again, on a daily basis. She went to an optician, thinking she needed new glasses, but they did not help.

She went back to see her doctor, who said her eye pressure had shot up to 60mmHg. Normal eye pressure is about 12 to 21mmHg.

It is this fear of going blind that patients worry most about, said doctors and patients.

Retiree Sam Fong, 64, president of the Glaucoma Patients Association, a support group, and who was diagnosed with glaucoma in 1999, said that "people do freak out at first" when diagnosed.

He said: "Some even contemplate suicide, because they cannot accept the loss of their sight. They feel very handicapped because 80 per cent of daily activities rely on sight."

Workers like architects and engineers may face problems with distinguishing colours, or viewing the corners of diagrams or graphs as their peripheral vision disappears, he added.

Left untreated, sufferers can go blind in as little as two to three weeks, said Associate Professor Aung Tin, a glaucoma specialist from the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC).

All hope is not lost, as medicated eyedrops or surgery can reduce the eye pressure, and slow down vision loss.

"If detected early, and controlled, it should not affect a person's work life," said Prof Aung.

The lack of public education has prompted organisers of the first World Glaucoma Day, held worldwide tomorrow, to reach out to the public, with talks at venues such as the Alexandra and National University hospitals and the SNEC.

Family members of glaucoma patients will also be offered eye screenings at $5 on a first-come, first-served basis, because they are at about three times higher risk than those unrelated to glaucoma sufferers.

serl@sph.com.sg

Visit alleyesonglaucoma.com or www.singapore-glaucoma.org for more information.

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