A case report published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology in June, depicted a 34-year old woman from Haiti who was wrongly suspected of having glaucoma – a condition where the optic nerve connecting the brain and eyes becomes damaged.
She was reported to experience night blindness, characterised by poor sight at night or in poor lighting. She also had floaters – jelly-like material inside the eyes that can cast a shadow onto the retina. As the name suggests, they look like little pieces of material floating in your vision.
To treat her supposed glaucoma, she was given medication for 18 months that didn’t do anything.
It turned out she was suffering the consequences of a vitamin A deficiency, not glaucoma.
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