More than 50,000 people in Taiwan have been diagnosed with glaucoma, an eye disease that can lead to blindness if not treated properly.
But despite the seriousness of this disease, an estimated 250,000 people are not aware that they are affected by glaucoma and consequently have not received any treatment, doctors said in Taipei yesterday.
“Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide,” said Lu Da-wen (呂大文), chief of glaucoma services at Tri-Service General Hospital’s Department of Ophthalmology.
Lu said the average age of glaucoma patients is falling, and that younger patients suffer from a faster rate of disease progression.
“[Younger patients] have poorer compliance with medical procedures and often miss the golden period of treatment,” Lu said, adding that “the two greatest challenges in glaucoma treatment is patient compliance and effective control of eye pressure.”
“I discovered I had glaucoma when I was in the fifth grade,” said 24-year-old Jia Fan (范振嘉).
He went to the doctor because he “saw a ring of colorful lights” around bright objects. Like many young glaucoma patients, Fan delayed treatment until he experienced extreme pain.
“When I went to the doctor [for the second time], the pressure in my right eye had reached 60mmHg,” he said.
Pressure in a normal eye should be between 8mmHg and 21 mmHg.
Fan received medication to lower his eye pressure, but he discontinued treatment soon after the pain went away because his college entrance exams were approaching. When he was in his second year in college, the pain returned and he had to undergo surgery.
“Now I use eyedrops every day and my eye pressure has returned to normal,” said Fan, who has only 10 percent of his field of vision left.
While other treatment methods such as laser surgery are also available, “laser surgery not only carries higher risk, but also produces negative side effects such as reducing contrast perception,” said Lany Kuo (柯美蘭), director of Hsinchu General Hospital’s Department of Ophthalmology.
“Once-daily medication regimens help reduce involuntary non-compliance,” Kuo said.
From Sept. 1, DuoTrav, a medication used to treat certain forms of glaucoma, will be covered by the National Health Insurance, the doctors said.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS