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Glaucoma (Open Angle) Blog

Blog (10)

Research Gets Closer to Genetic Roots of Glaucoma

Posted 27 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, April 27 – Two genetic variations are linked to a common form of glaucoma, known as primary open-angle glaucoma, according to new research. Glaucoma affects about 2.2 million people in the United States, the U.S. National Eye Institute said in a news release. "Loss of vision from glaucoma, a common cause of blindness worldwide, is due to irreversible damage to the optic nerve," noted one expert, Dr. Mark Fromer, an ophthalmologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Glaucoma is usually associated with high eye pressure leading to optic nerve damage. There is also a form of glaucoma with normal pressure." In the new study, Janey Wiggs, of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, and colleagues analyzed the DNA sequences of more than 6,000 people. Half of them had primary open-angle glaucoma. This form of the disease is typically associated ... Read more

Related support groups: Glaucoma, Glaucoma (Open Angle)

Glaucoma Need Not Steal Sight, Experts Say

Posted 20 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, April 20 – Though glaucoma has been nicknamed the silent thief of sight, eye experts now say it generally doesn't have to be that way. "For most people, if you treat early, you should have vision for a lifetime," said Dr. Mark Fromer, an ophthalmologist at Lenox Hill Hospital and medical director of the Fromer Eye Centers, both in New York City, and the eye surgeon director for the New York Rangers hockey team. Glaucoma isn't just one disease but a group of conditions that cause damage to the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain. Left untreated, glaucoma can in fact cause blindness. And because the disease can progress for long periods undetected, experts stress that checkups and early detection are key to maintaining vision. Most forms of glaucoma develop because of increased pressure in the eye, according to the Glaucoma Foundation. High eye pressure, also known ... Read more

Related support groups: Glaucoma, Glaucoma (Open Angle)

FDA Approves Zioptan (tafluprost ophthalmic solution), Merck's Once-Daily, Preservative-Free Ophthalmic Medication

Posted 13 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., Feb. 13, 2012 – Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Zioptan (tafluprost ophthalmic solution) 0.0015%, the first preservative-free prostaglandin analog ophthalmic solution. Zioptan (pronounced zye-OP-tan) is approved for reducing elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG) or ocular hypertension. Open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma, while ocular hypertension is a condition characterized by an increase in pressure inside the eye. "Prostaglandin analogs are often used as a first line of treatment to lower intraocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma. The approval of Zioptan will provide a new, effective option to lower IOP," said George L. Spaeth, M.D., Wills Eye Institute, Philadelphia, "I a ... Read more

Related support groups: Glaucoma, Glaucoma (Open Angle), Glaucoma/Intraocular Hypertension

Mobius Therapeutics Receives Final FDA Approval for New Glaucoma Drug Mitosol

Posted 9 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Mobius Therapeutics, LLC, a St. Louis-based ophthalmic company, has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the platform product, Mitosol. This initial indication is for the use of Mitosol in glaucoma surgery. With FDA approval, Mobius Therapeutics can start marketing and production efforts for Mitosol immediately. "The approval of Mitosol for use in glaucoma surgery represents the culmination of more than five years of work on the part of Mobius Therapeutics," said Ed Timm, President of Mobius Therapeutics. "It will provide surgeons, hospitals, and patients with enhanced convenience, safety, and consistency in the surgical treatment of glaucoma." Glaucoma is the second-leading cause of blindness in the United States. It is treated progressively, beginning with pharmaceuticals, then office intervention and finally ... Read more

Spending on Glaucoma Meds Rising in U.S., Study Finds

Posted 13 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, June 13 – Spending on medications for Americans with the eye disease glaucoma has increased overall and especially among certain groups of patients, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed data from 1,404 patients aged 18 and older who used glaucoma medication between 2001 and 2006. The average amount spent per patient for glaucoma medications increased from $445 in 2001 to $557 in 2006. Among the groups most likely to be associated with significant increases in spending on glaucoma medications were women, people who had only public health insurance and those who hadn't completed high school. Spending on glaucoma medications was higher among patients with Medicare Part D coverage than among those with private insurance, said Dr. Byron L. Lam, of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, and colleagues. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in the United States. As the ... Read more

Obesity Seems to Cut Women's Risk of Open-Angle Glaucoma

Posted 14 Feb 2011 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Feb. 14 – Obesity may be associated with reduced risk of the eye disease open-angle glaucoma in women, but not in men, a new study suggests. Open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma, a condition that causes damage to the optic nerve. In the study, researchers in the Netherlands analyzed data from 3,939 participants, aged 55 and older, who took part in the Rotterdam Study and who did not have open-angle glaucoma when the study began between 1991 and 1993. Over an average follow-up period of nearly 10 years, open-angle glaucoma developed in 108 participants (2.7 percent). The condition was most likely to occur in those who were older, had severe nearsightedness and in men, said Dr. Wishal Ramdas of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, and colleagues. The investigators found that, for women, there was a link between increased body mass index (BMI) and pressure ... Read more

Related support groups: Obesity, Glaucoma (Open Angle)

Glaucoma Cases on the Rise in U.S.

Posted 11 Jul 2010 by Drugs.com

SUNDAY, July 11 – The changing makeup of the U.S. population is expected to lead to an increase in cases of glaucoma, the leading cause of vision loss in the country, experts say. A number of demographic and health trends have increased the number of Americans who fall into the major risk groups for glaucoma. These trends include: The aging of America Growth in the black and Hispanic populations The ongoing obesity epidemic And as more people become at risk, regular eye exams become increasingly important, eye experts say. Early detection of glaucoma is essential to preserving a person's sight, but eye exams are the only way to catch the disease before serious damage is done to vision. "The big thing about glaucoma is that it doesn't have any signs or symptoms," said Dr. Mildred Olivier of the Midwest Glaucoma Center in Hoffman Estates, Ill., and a board member of Prevent Blindness ... Read more

Confronting Glaucoma, Before It's Too Late

Posted 11 Jul 2010 by Drugs.com

SUNDAY, July 11 – Alan Leighton discovered he had glaucoma when he noticed a gray area of sight in his left eye. That was in 1992. "I think I had it a long time before that, but I didn't know until then," said Leighton, 68, a corporate treasurer who lives in Indianapolis. "Glaucoma is like that. It's sneaky." Leighton made an appointment with his ophthalmologist to see what was wrong. "We went for a bunch of tests, and he determined there was an issue with that eye, and that I had normal pressure glaucoma," he said. His response was unsentimental and pragmatic: His family has a history of glaucoma, so the news wasn't a total surprise. "I decided that we needed to take the most proactive methods we could," Leighton said. "I would go to the best people I could find and see what methods they had to address it and keep it from getting worse. I wanted to keep it from affecting my right eye, ... Read more

New Contact Lenses Could Improve Glaucoma Treatment

Posted 24 Mar 2010 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, March 24 – A team of researchers has created special contact lenses for glaucoma patients that come loaded with vitamin E, using a design that could essentially lengthen the amount of time a medication bathes an afflicted eye. This strategy could reduce the significant waste of medication that happens with traditional eye drops, but so far the concept has only been tested in beagles. "Currently, the way we deliver medication to the eye is very bad and very ineffective," said study author Anuj Chauhan, an associate professor in the department of chemical engineering at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "And this approach is wonderful because it delivers drugs for a long period of time." Chauhan and his colleagues are to present their findings Wednesday at the American Chemical Society annual meeting in San Francisco. According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation, ... Read more

Waiting Safe for Some at Risk of Glaucoma

Posted 9 Mar 2010 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, March 8 – Eye doctors can often treat glaucoma successfully if they catch it early, but a new study suggests that ophthalmologists can sometimes wait before treating those at risk of developing the disease. If their ophthalmologists choose to postpone treatment, certain patients with higher-than-normal pressure in the eye won't need to take prescription anti-glaucoma eye drops, potentially for years. "In the past, doctors were left to their own judgment, which is fine," said study author Dr. Michael A. Kass, chairman of the department of ophthalmology and visual sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. "But it's nice to have some judgment that's backed up by some hard evidence." Glaucoma, caused when pressure in the eye damages the optic nerve, can lead to impaired vision and blindness. Older people and blacks are at especially high risk. To measure their risk, ... Read more

Glaucoma Begins in Mid-Brain, Not in Eye, Research Shows

Posted 3 Mar 2010 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, March 3 – Early signs of glaucoma can be detected in the brain, according to a new study that may trigger a major change in how the disease is treated. It has long been believed that glaucoma – the leading cause of blindness in the United States – results from pressure within the eye that damages the retina and optic nerve, so treatments have focused on reducing pressure within the eye. However, this new study suggests that glaucoma is a central nervous system disease that requires different treatment approaches. "This is a paradigm shift in how we think about the disease," study author David Calkins, director of research at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, said in a news release from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "This will have global implications. This information opens up an entirely new domain of nerve-derived therapeutics." In research with lab animals, ... Read more

Special Eye Drops May Reverse Glaucoma Damage

Posted 16 Dec 2009 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Aug. 4 – A new type of eye drop appears to protect retinal and optic nerve cells – and even reverse some sight loss – in patients battling glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness, new research suggests. Italian researchers found that the topical use of nerve growth factor, which is easily absorbed by the eye in drop form, spares retinal ganglion cells from nerve damage caused by the build-up of eye pressure associated with glaucoma. This is "the first evidence that nerve growth factor eye drops may represent a potential treatment for glaucoma," said Dr. Stefano Bonini, professor and chairman of the department of ophthalmology at the University of Rome Campus Bio-Medico. Bonini and his team reported their findings in the Aug. 3 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Glaucoma is an often symptom-less grouping of incurable, but treatable, eye ... Read more

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