Untreated glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness

A leading cause of blindness if left untreated is glaucoma. This was the message to the Pattaya City Expats Club at their Sunday meeting on January 15. Master of Ceremonies Roy Albiston introduced Dr. Jittapan Chureeganon, M.D., an Ophthalmologist with Bangkok Hospital Pattaya (BHP) to talk about the risk factors and detection of glaucoma. BHP also had a nurse providing free blood pressure checks for members and guests.

Dr. Jittapan explains the danger of high Intra Ocular Pressure (IOP) in causing glaucoma, and how it is measured with a Tonometer.

Dr. Jittapan received his Doctor of Medicine from the Faculty of Medicine of Chulalongkorn University in 2004. He received his Diplomate from the Thai Board of Ophthalmology in 2010 and performed his Residency in Glaucoma at Chulalongkorn Hospital during 2010 and 2011.

Dr. Jittapan started his presentation by displaying a comparative picture that showed how the same object would appear to those whose vision was normal, with intermediate symptoms, and advanced symptoms of glaucoma. He explained that glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that lead to damage to the optic nerve. He showed a diagram and described how the optic nerve, which carries visual information from the eye to the brain, can be damaged by glaucoma. In most cases, damage to the optic nerve is due to increased pressure in the eye, also known as intraocular pressure.

Board member David Meador explains how to get to Froggy’s French Bistro, the ‘Frugal Freddy’ restaurant for Monday, hosted by Hawaii Bob Sutterfield.

The front part of the eye is filled with a clear fluid. It leaves the eye through channels in the front of the eye in an area called the anterior chamber angle, or simply the angle. Anything that slows or blocks the flow of this fluid out of the eye will cause pressure to build up in the eye. In most cases of glaucoma, this pressure is high and causes damage to the optic nerve. He described the four major types of glaucoma: Open-angle (chronic), Angle-closure (acute), Congenital, and Secondary.

Open-angle (chronic) glaucoma is the most common type of glaucoma representing about 95% of cases. The cause is unknown and it results in an increase in eye pressure slowly over time. The pressure pushes on the optic nerve. Dr. Jittapan pointed out that this type of glaucoma initially has no symptoms; once vision loss occurs, the damage is already severe. As it progresses, there is a slow loss of side (peripheral) vision (also called tunnel vision).

MC for the day, Roy Albiston invites new visitors to introduce themselves to Pattaya City Expats Club, before he himself introduces Dr. Jittapan Chureeganon, M.D., an Ophthalmologist with Bangkok Hospital Pattaya (BHP), to talk about the risk factors and detection of Glaucoma.

Angle-closure (acute) glaucoma occurs when the exit of the fluid is suddenly blocked. This causes a quick, severe, and painful rise in the pressure in the eye. Dr. Jittapan said that this type of glaucoma is an emergency. Symptoms develop quickly and medical attention should be sought as it needs immediate treatment. Symptoms may come and go at first, or steadily become worse. Symptoms are: sudden, severe pain in one eye, decreased or cloudy vision, nausea and vomiting, rainbow-like halos around lights, red eye, and/or the eye feels swollen.

Congenital glaucoma is seen in babies, juveniles, or young adults. It often runs in families and is present at birth. It is caused by abnormal eye development. Secondary glaucoma can be caused by drugs such as corticosteroids, eye diseases, systemic diseases, and trauma.

The most common risk factors are: (1) age over 40 years old; (2) having a history of ocular pressure; (3) having a family history of glaucoma; (4) having diabetes; (5) had eye surgery; (6) having a history of using steroids; or (7) having migraine headaches, snoring, or diabetic neuropathy. Dr. Jittapan also said that people of African and Asian descent are at high risk.

He said a complete eye exam is usually needed to diagnose glaucoma. You may be given an eye drop to widen (dilate) your pupil. Another test called tonometry is done to check eye pressure. Some other tests can include: using a special lens to look at the eye (gonioscopy), photographs or laser scanning images of the inside of the eye (optic nerve imaging), examination of the retina in the back of the eye, and visual field measurement.

Treatment will vary depending on diagnosis as to the severity of the damage. This can include medicine therapy, laser treatment, and surgery. He concluded his presentation by using a video vision simulator which allowed him to adjust for types and severity. With each adjustment, the picture would change to reflect how the vision would be affected. He said that the important thing to remember about glaucoma is that there are often no symptoms, so periodic examinations should be made especially if you have any of the risk factors. If left untreated glaucoma can lead to blindness. In the USA, it is the second leading cause of blindness.

After Dr. Jittapan answered many questions from the audience, Roy Albiston called on Pat Koester to update everyone on upcoming events and to conduct the Open Forum where questions are asked and answered about expat living in Thailand and Pattaya in particular. The Pattaya City Expats Club meets every Sunday at the Amari Orchid’s Tavern by the Sea Restaurant. Read more about the club’s activities on their website at www. pattayacityexpatsclub.com.

Rotary celebrates India’s first polio-free year

Dan Nixon and
Wayne Hearn

Rotary Club members worldwide are cautiously celebrating a major milestone in the global effort to eradicate polio. India, until recently an epicenter of the wild poliovirus, has gone one year without recording a new case of the crippling, sometimes fatal, disease.

Kalyan Banerjee, Rotary International President 2011-12.

India’s last reported case was a two-year-old girl in West Bengal State on 13 January 2011. The country recorded 42 cases in 2010, and 741 in 2009.

A chief factor in India’s success has been the widespread use of the bivalent oral polio vaccine, which is effective against both remaining types of the poliovirus. Another has been rigorous monitoring, which has helped reduce the number of children missed by health workers during National Immunization Days to less than 1 percent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Rotary has been a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative since 1988, along with WHO, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is also a key supporter of the initiative.

Sporting their signature yellow vests and caps, the nearly 119,000 Rotarians in India have helped administer vaccine to children, organize free health camps and polio awareness rallies, and distribute banners, caps, comic books, and other items.

Rotarians and state government leaders in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, vaccinate children against polio during a National Immunization Day in 2011. (Photo courtesy of the India PolioPlus Committee)

“With the support of their Rotary brothers and sisters around the world, Indian Rotarians have worked diligently month after month, year after year, to help organize and carry out the National Immunization Days that reach millions of children with the oral polio vaccine,” says Rotary International President Kalyan Banerjee, of the Rotary Club of Vapi, Gujarat.

“The achievement of a polio-free India for a full year is a significant step towards a polio-free world - an example as to what can be accomplished no matter what problems need to be overcome,” says Robert S. Scott, chair of Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee. “Rotarians of India are and should be proud of the key efforts they have made at all levels, without which the world would not be marking this milestone.”

Deepak Kapur, chair of the India PolioPlus Committee, also credits the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for its commitment to ending polio. To date, the Indian government has spent more than US$1.2 billion on domestic polio eradication activities. “Government support is crucial if we are to defeat polio, and we are fortunate that our government is our biggest advocate in this effort,” Kapur says.

“Marching ahead, the goal is to sustain this momentum,” he adds, describing as potentially “decisive” the upcoming immunization rounds this month and in February and March.

After January 13, WHO declared that India has interrupted transmission of indigenous wild poliovirus, laying the groundwork for its removal from the polio-endemic countries list, which also includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria. However, because non-endemic countries remain at risk for cases imported from endemic countries, immunizations in India and other endemic and at-risk countries must continue. Neighboring Pakistan, which has reported 189 cases so far for 2011, is a major threat to India’s continued polio-free status. Last year, an outbreak in China, which had been polio-free for a decade, was traced genetically to Pakistan.

“As an Indian, I am immensely proud of what Rotary has accomplished,” Banerjee says. “However, we know this is not the end of our work. Rotary and our partners must continue to immunize children in India and in other countries until the goal of a polio-free world is finally achieved.”

Visit ‘Rotary Public Image Zone 6B’ on Facebook to watch a video message from Rotary International President Kalyan Banerjee and how Rotarians worldwide are working tirelessly to ‘End Polio Now’.

Air Force honors mayor, city workers for flood-relief assistance

Royal Thai Air Force officers present certificates and Civil Affairs logos to Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome, Deputy Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn and 15 other Sanitation, Water and Engineering department workers.

Vittaya Yoondorn

Royal Thai Air Force officers honored 17 top Pattaya politicians and bureaucrats for their assistance in aiding victims of recent flooding in Bangkok.

Lt. Gen. Thongchai Chalomkhet, deputy air force chief of staff, presented certificates and Civil Affairs logos to Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome, Deputy Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn and 15 other Sanitation, Water and Engineering department workers.

The flooding that crippled central Thailand and Bangkok for weeks hampered Air Force operations, which were based at the flooded Don Muang International Airport. To carry out their flood-relief mission, the air force called on engineers and specialists from Pattaya.

Thongchai presented a Civil Affairs award to the Pattaya Sanitation Department as a whole and individually to Director Virat Jirasriphaithun, Interior Ministry liaison Phaiwong Techanarong, pump sponsor Wichai Siriprasertchok, and civil engineers Chaloey Dithakarn, Ratdech Jaenglaeng, and Wiroj Josungnern.

Itthiphol thanked the military for the recognition and said he and other city workers felt proud to help flood victims and that Pattaya residents came together to help fellow Thais in need.