Glaucoma
The current OCL issue focuses on glaucoma with four publications. Today, glaucoma is still considered the most common cause of blindness, with an estimated prevalence of 3.5 percent in people aged 40 to 80. Taking into account the ageing population, it is predicted that 111.8 million people will be diagnosed with glaucoma by the year 2040.1 Clinical and scientific issues related to glaucoma interest the members of both eye care professions in their professional practice as well as in research and teaching. The number of glaucoma-related articles published in the relevant journals of optometry and ophthalmology has become so complex that even the interested reader sometimes loses the overview of what is really relevant for his or her daily practice. For this reason, the OCL editorial team is proud to have found four excellent authors for the current OCL issue who look at the topic of glaucoma from different perspectives.
• Prof. Dr. Carl Erb, Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Josef Flammer, Basel
• Prof. Dr. Thomas F. Freddo, Worcester, MA
The co-director of the "Glaucoma Center of Excellence" at Harvard Medical School, Professor Dr. David. S. Friedman published an interesting article entitled "The Future of Glaucoma Care" in the "Proceedings of the 19th Annual Meeting of the Optometric Glaucoma Society" in February 2022, in which he also discussed the topic of "Artificial Intelligence (AI)" for the complex of glaucoma diagnostics and treatment".2 The conclusion of the article is that eyecare providers will have more time and more information for the care of their patients due to the future possibilities in the field of AI. However, it is precisely for this purpose that constant knowledge updating will continue to be necessary. With this in mind, I wish all readers of the OCL many new insights for their daily work.
[1] Kang, J, M., Tanna, A. P. (2021). Glaucoma. Med. Clin. North. Am., 105, 493-510.
[2] Friedman, D. S. (2022). The Future of Glaucoma Care. Proc. 19th Annual Meeting Optom. Glauc. Soc. 11-16.
About Wolfgang Cagnolati
DSc* MSc* FCOptom FAAO - *Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University, Eye- and Vision Center Optometrie Cagnolati GmbH
Wolfgang Cagnolati practices clinical optometry in Duisburg, Germany, and is also a Visiting Associate Professor at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and a lecturer at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences.