Some 25 to 30 glaucoma patients are seen on a daily basis at the Georgetown Public Hospital, Consultant Ophthalmologist and Glaucoma Specialist Dr Shailendra Sugrim has said.
Dr Sugrim, who heads the hospital’s Department of Ophthalmology, said too that close to 30 operations for the condition which can lead to blindness are carried out every year.
Speaking to Stabroek News last Saturday as World Glaucoma Week ended, Dr Sugrim revealed that Guyanese of African origin are more prone to develop open angle glaucoma, which is the most common type of glaucoma, and are more likely to have family members with glaucoma. He also revealed that glaucoma in African-Guyanese is usually more severe and more difficult to treat. Glaucoma is a condition that causes damage to the eye’s optic nerve;