Divya Sharma, 27, is a young lady with only 25 per cent vision due to acute glaucoma as a child. But that has not stopped her from being a fitness enthusiast. She has five belts in Karate and she also does regular weight lifting to keep herself in shape.

This week is World Glaucoma Awareness Week. Lalitha Ramakrishnan and Viji Venkatesh, a mother - daughter duo share their experience with Glaucoma, the silent thief of sight and highlight the importance of regular eye checkups and adherence to medication.

I had not heard of Glaucoma till 1991.

Since its inception in 2014, Adventures Beyond Barriers Foundation, which promotes inclusion by enabling Persons with Disability (PwD) and able bodied people to participate in adventure sports like paragliding, marathons, trekking, scuba diving and mountaineering together, has impacted close to 4000 PwDs and over 1.5 lakh able bodied people. Yashasvini Rajeshwar, Head of Media and Communication of ABBF, gives details about the pioneering effort.

Tell us about this unique thought and its genesis.

What are the treatments available

The aim of treatment is to lower the intraocular pressure thereby preventing or reducing further damage to the optic nerve. However, in most situations it is not possible to reverse the optic nerve changes that have occurred.

The methods available for glaucoma lowering intraocular pressure are : medical (usually eye drops), laser and surgical.