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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1977
COMMON EYE DISEASES OF HONG KONG
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THE COMMONEST DISEASES CAUSING BLINDNESS IN HONG KONG RESIDENTS CAN EITHER BE CURED OR CONTROLLED BY MEDICAL TREATMENT.
THIS WAS STATED TODAY BY DR. TIMOTHY LIU OF THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S OPHTHALMIC SERVICE AT A LUNCHEON TALK TO THE ROTARY CLUB OF KOWLOOM EAST.
BUT, DR. LIU WARNED THAT EARLY DETECTION AND TREATMENT WAS ESSENTIAL TO PREVENT BLINDNESS FROM OCCURRING.
HE NAMED CATARACT, OPACITIES IN THE LENS FOUND COMMONLY IN THE ELDERLY GLAUCOMA, DAMAGE TO THE VISUAL NERVE FIBRE CAUSED BY PRESSURE WITHIN THE EYE AND RETINAL DISORDERS AS THE COMMONEST EYE DISEASES CAUSING BLINDNESS IN HONG KONG TODAY.
TEN YEARS AGO, HOWEVER, CATARACT, CORNEAL SCARRING FROM TRACHOMA (A FORM OF CONJUNCTIVITIS) AND XEROPHTHALMIA (INFLAMATION OF THE CORNEA AND EYELIDS, ESPECIALLY OF A CHILD DUE TO LACK OF VITAMIN A), AND GLAUCOMA WERE MOST PREVALENT.
COMMENTING ON CATARACT DISEASE, DR. LIU EXPLAINED THAT THIS WAS CURABLE AND THE PUBLIC WERE AWARE OF IT AS SHOWN BY THE RECORD ATTENDANCE IN GOVERNMENT EYE CLINICS.
ON THE TREATMENT OF GLAUCOMA, HOWEVER, DR. LIU SAID IT COULD BE CONTROLLED MEDICALLY OR SURGICALLY.
+BUT, WITH THE INCREASE IN LIFE SPAN OF THE PATIENTS BLINDNESS IS INEVITABLE IN ADVANCED AGE AS GLAUCOMA IS NOT A CURABLE DISEASE.
+TO ENSURE THAT VISION CAN BE MAINTAINED, EARLY DETECTION AND TREATMENT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL, DR. LIU EMPHASISED.
REFERRING TO TRACHOMA CASES, DR. LIU SAID, +WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO DETECT IN HONG KONG A SINGLE CASE OF BLINDNESS DUE TO MALNUTRITION SINCE 1972, WHICH IS STILL ONE OF THE MA IN CAUSES OF BLINDNESS TODAY IN MANY OTHER DEVELOP ING COUNTRIES.+
HOWEVER, HE ADDED, INJURY FROM ACCIDENT AT WORK WAS NOT AN UNCOMMON CAUSE OF BLINDNESS FROM CORNEAL SCARRING WHICH COULD BE REMEDIED BY CORNEAL TRANSPLANT, A UNIT FOR SUCH TRANSPLANT WAS FORMED LAST SEPTEMBER.
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