HS-UK Raises Awareness of Glaucoma for National Eye Health Week
Harlow, Essex (PRWEB UK) 19 September 2013 -- Haag-Streit UK (HS-UK), the leading manufacturer and distributor of gold-standard optometry and ophthalmic equipment, embarked on a number of radio interviews on 16th September to raise awareness of glaucoma and the importance of having a sight test every 2 years. This was undertaken in support of National Eye Health Week which is running between 16th and 22nd September 2013.
HS-UK Marketing Manager, Sharon Mills and National Sales Manager, Grahame Wood took part in the radio interviews, at a sound studio in Oxford Circus, with an estimated listening audience of 3 million. Some of the interviews were pre-recorded, although live interviews were broadcast on 16th September, the first day on National Eye Health Week from stations including; Black Diamond FM (Midlothian, Scotland), Big City Radio (Birmingham) and Kemet FM (Nottingham).
Pre-recorded interviews were broadcast during the remainder of National Eye Health Week by stations including 107.6 Juice Liverpool and a number of local BBC stations.
Sharon Mills, said, “The key message we wanted to convey to listeners is to have regular eye tests. It is estimated that 300,000 people in the UK are living with undetected glaucoma. The disease has been labelled the ‘silent thief of sight’ due to the lack of symptoms but can be detected during a routine eye examination.”
During the interviews, Grahame Wood discussed the various treatment options which are available, these included; drug therapy (eye drops), laser treatment and surgery.
Following on from this, Grahame outlined the benefits of the lesser-known Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT) treatment. Grahame advised, “SLT is a gentle, non-invasive laser technique for stimulating the generation of healthy trabecular meshwork cells and managing intra-ocular pressure (IOP). This treatment promotes cellular regeneration without the burn and scar tissue associated with Argon Laser Trabeculoplasty (ALT).”
During the interviews, Sharon and Grahame outlined the diagnostic and monitoring HS-UK medical equipment that is used to diagnose glaucoma. An eye test usually takes about 30 minutes and includes a number of tests which help to diagnose glaucoma. The optometrist will;
• Look at the optic nerve by shining a light from a torch instrument into your eye – using a Haag-Streit slit lamp
• Perform a tonometry test to measure the pressure in your eye – using an HS-UK Goldmann tonometer (attached to a slit lamp) or a hand-held Perkins tonometer (manufactured by HS-UK)
• Measure your field of vision using a perimetry test by showing you a sequence of spots of light on a screen and asking you which ones you can see (using an HS-UK Octopus perimeter)
• Take a stereoscopic optic disc photograph, this provides a permanent record of the appearance of the optic nerve head – using a DRS non-mydriatic retinal camera (HS-UK sole distributor in UK)
For further information on National Eye Health Week, please visit http://www.visionmatters.org.uk or for more information about Haag-Streit products, please call (01279) 456314, email info(at)haag-streit-uk(dot)com or visit http://www.haagstreituk.com/products.
Rebecca Herrett, Haag-Streit UK Limited, http://www.haagstreituk.com, +44 1279456260, [email protected]
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