By on 05/12/2021
In one way or another, Mona Kaleem has been treating glaucoma patients her entire life. Growing up, Kaleem witnessed how glaucoma affected several generations of his paternal family. Seeing the effects the disease had on her family members, she decided to pursue a career as an ophthalmologist with a subspecialty in glaucoma.
Kaleem, who recently joined Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine as an associate professor of ophthalmology, is originally from Maryland, but his family is originally from India. She cites the profound impact of her oriental heritage on her approach to medicine. She comes from a long line of doctors and practitioners of Unani medicine, including her great-grandfather, Hakim Ajmal Khan, who revolutionized Unani medicine by integrating it with allopathic medicine. “Whenever someone came to him for advice on an illness, he would tell them about various herbal remedies, physical postures and even prayers, to help them recover. In India, many people still believe in the power of complementary and alternative medicine,” she says.
Awareness of these approaches led Kaleem to explore the potential benefits of integrative medicine for people living with glaucoma. “I will always support the use of good evidence-based medicine, as is what we practice here in the United States. And I see more and more evidence emerging on how factors related to lifestyle can have an impact on the prognosis of the disease.
Today, Kaleem has earned a reputation for teaching others how to live a better life with glaucoma, often incorporating his knowledge of integrative medicine into the discussion. She speaks frequently on the subject and has developed a podcast, Diagnosis Glaucomawith colleague Wilmer Harry Quigley as a resource for patients. “Glaucoma is a chronic disease, so we need to teach our patients how to live comfortably in the short and long term with the vision they have. If there are small adjustments people can make to make their home safer, read more comfortably, or feel more independent, I want to help them do that,” she says.
Kaleem is both a student and a teacher. Last year, after attending a presentation on meditation and glaucoma at the World Glaucoma Conference, she conducted a literature review on the topic and presented her findings at the annual meeting of the Maryland Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons. “My colleague Elyse McGlumphy is conducting a research study on this topic and I’m excited to hear what she finds,” says Kaleem.
With his patients, Kaleem regularly discusses the topic of anxiety, particularly the anxiety people feel when they are diagnosed with glaucoma. “After discussing my recommendations for medications and surgeries, I will discuss meditation, dietary changes and exercise with those who are interested,” she says. “Everything I talk to my patients about, I have done my own research and can direct them to the best sources for more information. »
Recently, the corona virus The pandemic has sparked interest in home monitoring of glaucoma patients, and Kaleem is among those at Wilmer studying its potential use. For example, she is testing a version of an at-home visual field test used to check peripheral vision in glaucoma patients. While such devices won’t replace the need for patients to be seen at the clinic, Kaleem hopes they will allow doctors to track what’s happening with patients’ vision between appointments, and perhaps to space out these appointments.
Another area of research for home monitoring is contrast sensitivity testing. “I’m very interested in how people function and the problems they encounter on a daily basis,” Kaleem explains. “With a visual field test, you can see exactly where a defect is, but contrast sensitivity assesses overall vision and helps identify functional deficits earlier. » Kaleem recently hosted a webinar for the Maryland Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons on home glaucoma monitoring tools, featuring two of his colleagues from Wilmer, Tom Johnson and Alan Robin.
Kaleem says she is excited about the many opportunities for growth and collaboration at Wilmer. “It’s truly a pleasure to work with people whose work has taught me so much throughout my journey to becoming a glaucoma specialist,” she says. As a child, Kaleem lived in the same neighborhood as famous ophthalmologist Sheila West and was lifelong friends with West’s daughter. “We lost contact after we both left the neighborhood. I didn’t know Sheila West was who she was,” says Kaleem. “I just knew she was my friend’s mom and she worked at Johns Hopkins. I had no idea she was such a giant in the field of ophthalmology.
As a first-year resident, Kaleem met West at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and West invited her to participate in a research project. “Sheila introduced me to the people in the glaucoma department early on and encouraged me to join Hopkins. It was incredibly meaningful that she had so much confidence in me and my ability to succeed at one of the leading ophthalmic institutions in the world. She was the first person I told, after my parents, that I had taken a job at Wilmer.
