New Delhi: January is observed as Glaucoma Awareness Month, but glaucoma itself does not follow calendars, campaigns, or good intentions. It arrives quietly, without pain, redness, or sudden vision loss. It thrives on normalcy.
Most people who lose vision to glaucoma do so not because they ignored danger signs, but because there were none to notice. Everything felt fine. Vision seemed normal. By the time something felt wrong, the damage was already permanent.
Glaucoma is among the leading causes of irreversible blindness worldwide. In India alone, an estimated 12 million people are affected. Yet nearly nine out of ten cases remain undiagnosed in the community. The reason lies in how the disease behaves.
Glaucoma develops silently. It does not interfere with daily life in its early stages. Peripheral vision is affected first, while central vision remains intact for years. Reading, driving, and routine tasks continue without difficulty.
The brain quietly compensates for what the eyes are losing. When people finally notice tunnel vision or struggle to navigate spaces, the optic nerve has already suffered significant damage that cannot be reversed.
This creates a dangerous psychological trap. Humans respond to discomfort. Pain triggers action. Symptoms create urgency. Glaucoma offers neither. Many people assume their eyes are healthy simply because they can see clearly. Vision health is often mistaken for visual performance. If faces are recognizable and text is readable, preventive eye care rarely feels necessary.
Routine vision tests are not enough. Reading letters on a chart cannot detect glaucoma. Early diagnosis requires a combination of tests, including repeated eye pressure measurements, optic nerve evaluation, visual field testing, and advanced imaging. This complexity often leads to delays. In cities, it may be inconvenient. In smaller towns and rural areas, it becomes a serious barrier due to limited access to specialists and equipment.
The problem is compounded by subjectivity and specialist shortages. Traditional assessments can vary between clinicians, and many patients never reach expert care in time.
New screening technologies are beginning to change this landscape. Advanced systems can identify subtle structural changes in the eye long before vision is affected, allowing earlier referrals and treatment. When such tools are integrated into portable devices, screening can move beyond hospitals into primary health centres and community clinics. This reduces the burden of travel, cost, and lost workdays.
The real challenge now is not detection, but integration. Glaucoma will remain a silent thief of sight unless early screening becomes routine, accessible, and part of everyday eye care. Awareness must shift from reacting to vision loss to protecting vision before it disappears.
