Chandigarh: A team of ophthalmologists from Chandigarh has evolved a way to concurrently treat two eye diseases - cataract and glaucoma - without post operative complications. And that's great news for a country like India, where 80 percent of those above the age of 50 are likely to have cataract and six percent are likely to have glaucoma.

The doctors from the Grewal Eye Institute (GEI) here conducted a pilot study of "Ologen Implant in Phacoemulsification Combined with Trabeculectomy (Phaco-Trab)" and presented its results before over 10,000 delegates at the World Ophthalmology Congress (WHO) in Hong Kong in June.

"Now onwards we will use Ologen implant in Phaco-Trab for surgically treating both cataract and glaucoma simultaneously," S.P.S. Grewal, CEO of GEI, told IANS.

"Till now we were using a conventional method to treat the diseases jointly in a single surgery by using Mitomycin-C in Phaco-Trab that many times leads to post operative complications."

The new technique is a quick healing and more effective alternative and GEI is the first hospital to conduct a pilot study on the use of Ologen implant in Phaco-Trab, Grewal added.

"We are not going to patent this technique as it is for the betterment of mankind. We will conduct seminars and conferences all over the world among the doctor fraternity and general public to make them aware about this novel system," he said.

There is no particular symptom for cataract and glaucoma and they can be detected only through regular check-ups. IANS