News for Glaucoma

There may be a lot more to glaucoma management than just eye pressure and using drops.

Another related aspect to the condition may be the flow of blood to the nerve cells in the eye.  This is related to the blood pressure and the heart rate as well as the oxygen saturation of the blood.  Micronutrients also have a role in the health of the nerve cells.  Sleep apnea has been known to negatively impact glaucoma.   Taking blood pressure lowering medications before bedtime may be detrimental to the health of the nerve cells.  A recently published article showed that most currently in use blood pressure lowering medications can cause glaucoma to worsen.  Obviously, we do not want patients to stop their blood pressure lowering medications, but we also may not need to achieve the very low levels previously thought to be desirable.  As is frequently the case, a balance between the glaucoma and blood pressure needs to be found for each patient.

New micro-invasive glaucoma devices (MIGs) are now becoming available and will and are making treatment easier and safer.  There are currently two FDA approved implantable devices the iStent and more recently the CyPass.  Each of these is currently approved to be used at the time of cataract surgery only.