If the eyes have it
One in 10 folks over the age of 80 will be affected by glaucoma. The good news is it's a progressive eye disease that happens to be preventable—when caught early. Here's the bad news: There are many people who have it right now, but don't know it. Glaucoma is also a very stealthy disease, creeping up seemingly from behind. Next thing you know, you can't see anymore.
You're probably familiar with the test for glaucoma. When you go to your eye doctor, he asks you to hold still and blink before letting loose a puff of air, blasting your eyeball. The technical name for it is the non-contact tonometer. It measures the resistance of your eye to the puff of air, which in turn measures the amount of pressure in your eye.
There are other tests as well, but you won't know about them if you're not going in for regular eye exams. If you wear contacts or eyeglasses, the American Optometric Association recommends an annual eye exam. If you're over 40 and don't currently require a prescription, they recommend you have your eyes checked every one to two years. Once you're over 60, an annual exam regardless of prescription status.
Also, if a close family member has been diagnosed with glaucoma, get into the doctor and have your eyes examined. Your risk just went up, as family history is a factor. My own father had glaucoma. He was able to control it with eye drops, which he used his whole life (he lived to age 90). Because of this history, I make sure I get my regular eye exams.
The treatment for lowering the pressure in the eye is prescription eye drops, such as beta-blockers that will reduce the amount of pressure-causing fluid that is made. Another treatment for glaucoma involves laser surgery, which makes minute adjustments to improve the flow of those fluids.
The only way to find out if something is wrong is to go in for these maintenance checks, just like you would your car. Rather than worrying about being stranded on the side of the road by a broken timing belt, though, you're making the effort to save your sight.
