Tamal Roychowdhury (not real name) loves driving, but is severely impeded on the road by advanced glaucoma-induced blindness in one eye. Since his other eye is also affected, he may soon be forced to give up driving for good.

A young scribe with a city daily, who recently went for his near-vision power correction and a routine work-up, was gutted when his ophthalmologist told him he has glaucoma in both eyes and will require medication for the rest of his life and possible surgery.

Glaucoma, the “silent thief of sight”, a progressive degenerative disorder of the optic nerve which is usually symptom-less till it progresses to advanced stages, is stalking us, and Calcutta could well become the glaucoma capital of the country, eye doctors in the city warn.

“At least one in six new patients visiting our centre is found to be afflicted with glaucoma, and in most cases, the dreaded disease is detected during unsuspected routine eye check-ups,” says Amitava Biswas, a city-based eye surgeon and glaucoma specialist.

Biswas, who is an executive member of the Glaucoma Society of India and whose family eye-care facility Sunetra on the EM Bypass runs a dedicated glaucoma clinic, cautions that unless detected in the early stages, glaucoma eventually leads to irreversible blindness.

“It is recognised as one of the leading causes of preventable blindness across the globe with over 100 million people affected, and for reasons yet to be conclusively established, the incidence of glaucoma is alarmingly high in Calcutta,” he observes.

Another Calcutta-based ophthalmologist Gautam Mitra agrees the city ranks way above the national average in the occurrence of glaucoma.

“As opposed to the countrywide incidence of one in 10 new patients, in our practice, we find every fifth or sixth new patient in Calcutta has glaucoma,” Mitra points out.

Sections of society who run a higher risk of developing this silent blinding disease than others are those with a history of glaucoma in a blood-relative, patients suffering from diabetes and/or hypertension, those with high glass powers and people above 40 years of age.

Doctors suggest a comprehensive glaucoma screening for these high-risk groups, every two to four years for the 40-plus. This should include measuring intraocular pressure, inspecting drainage angle of the eye, assessing optic nerve damage, testing peripheral vision of each eye, measuring thickness of the retinal nerve and central corneal thickness.

An open house will be organised at Sunetra’s glaucoma clinic (located at the Unnayan commercial complex, Survey Park) to mark the first World Glaucoma Day on Thursday (March 6).

Anyone, who walks in, will be educated about glaucoma through posters, videos and lecture-demos. People may opt for a glaucoma screening for “a nominal registration fee”.