Glaucoma: What Every Patient Should Know: A  Guide from Dr. Harry Quigley

If you or a member of your family has been told that you have glaucoma, or, if you have glaucoma and want to be sure that the treatment you’re receiving is right for you, this patient-oriented guide was designed to answer the many questions you may have. The guide gives authoritative answers, easily understood explanations, helpful suggestions, and life-style advice. It won’t matter if you are not a medical specialist, since it is written in plain English. Most glaucoma patients retain good vision and live a normal life. The solutions given can take the stress out of dealing with glaucoma and should maximize the chance that no further injury to your ability to see will occur. There is good evidence that patients who try to learn more about their medical care do better in the long run. The author is Dr. Harry A. Quigley, Director of the Glaucoma Center of Excellence of the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He has 40 years’ experience caring for glaucoma, researching its treatments, and has performed 10,000 medical and surgical procedures for this disease. His 350 published papers on glaucoma represent the work that is most quoted by other eye doctors in the last 30 years. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the premier vision research journal, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. No other living ophthalmologist has received the Friedenwald Award (ARVO), the Doyne Medal (Oxford Ophthalmological Congress), the Jackson Lectureship (AAO), and the American Glaucoma Society Lectureship. The guide has quick “Take Home” summaries at the start of each section with the most important information. For those wishing to know much more, detailed explanations, drawings and photographs follow. The sections are designed to answer the questions that patients ask, as well as the questions that they should have asked. For those who know little about their glaucoma, it begins with a simple introduction to the disease. However, those who want in depth information will find discussions of how the disease is diagnosed, what the treatment options are, and how to live a normal life with glaucoma. There are not perfect answers to every question about glaucoma. Where there is controversy, the different sides of the issue are presented to help you and your doctor to make the better choice. There is consideration given to alternative approaches to therapy. There is no cure for glaucoma, and we cannot yet restore vision once it is lost. The guide presents ways to continue life at a high level, whatever the stage of glaucoma.

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