CHANDIGARH: When 25-year-old Raman was detected with glaucoma (a disease of retina that usually afflicts the elderly), ophthalmologists were surprised. After seeing his case history, it was found that to cure conjunctivitis, he overused steroids without a doctor's advice, which caused glaucoma. Of 60 to 70 cases of seasonal conjunctivitis (also known as pink eye) coming daily to city government hospitals, one-fourth show glaucoma and eye ulcers ' which eventually can cause loss of vision ' due to overuse of steroids on self-medication. Dr SK Arya, department of ophthalmology at GMCH-32, said, ''We are getting 30 to 40 patients daily and half of them are new cases. Also, most of these are severe cases that have turned into glaucoma due to steroid overuse.''
''Pollen and dust are the common causes of pink eye. On an average, 30 to 40 cases come to our out patient department daily,'' said Dr Jagat Ram, eye specialist at advanced eye centre, PG
