Eye doctor focuses on ‘big 4’ eye conditions

Screening is the key to optimum vision, Dr. Gregory Richard, an ophthalmologist, said as he talked about the “big four” eye conditions at the Eunice Kiwanis Club meeting Thursday.
“If you catch almost everything in my profession before it causes trouble people retain their vision and that is a big deal,” he said. “Vision loss is a bad thing. It is feared more than death by most Americans.”
Richard recently opened his practice in Eunice at 141 S. 10th St.
Richard is a 2003 graduate of St. Edmund High School, 2007 graduate of Louisiana State University and 2011 graduate of the LSU College of Medicine in Shreveport. Richard completed his residency at the University of Mississippi in Jackson, Mississippi.
The “big four” eye conditions Richard spoke about are cataracts, glaucoma, diabetes and macular degeneration.
Everyone will get cataracts if they live long enough, he said.
“The surgery has become the most common surgery in the world,” he said. “It is an outpatient job with very good results. Dr. (Edward) Graul has been doing them here in town for a long time, we will too.”
Cataract surgery, which involves implanting an acrylic lens into the eye, takes about 30 minutes and is an outpatient procedure, he said.
Glaucoma was next on his list.
“It sneaks up on you,” he said. “You lose your peripheral vision over many years. By the time the patient gets to me they have a little tunnel left and you can’t reverse it.”
Screening helps prevent glaucoma, he said.
“If caught early, my job is very easy. I can just give out some medicines ... generally everything goes very well,” he said.
If caught early, glaucoma can be successfully managed, he said.
Third on Richard’s list is diabetes and, again, screening minimizes its impact, he said.
“Diabetics get eye damage over the years,” he said. “By the time you say ‘Oh no, I can’t see,’ the ship has sailed.”
At least 10 percent of Louisiana residents have a diagnosis of diabetes and that may be as much as 20 percent, he said.
“We are second in death rates in the country from diabetes,” he said.
“This is another thing we are looking for in our screening exam. Caught early, it can be successfully managed,” he said.
Fourth on the conditions is macular degeneration.
“That is something we see more and more as people live longer,” Richard said. “The risk factors are a lot of things you cannot do much about. If you are white and you have light-colored eyes, you are at a higher risk. You really can’t fix that.”
One risk factor for macular degeneration is smoking, he said, which can be modified.
Again, screening minimizes the effects of the condition.