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Friday, March 29, 2024

Raising awareness of glaucoma

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Often referred to as the sneak thief of sight because it slowly causes vision loss, physicians and researchers at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute are trying to learn if glaucoma could be related to blood flow in the eye.

Their discoveries could change treatment options for one of the leading causes of blindness in the U.S.

Glaucoma develops when pressure builds in the eye and causes damage to the optic nerve, said Louis Cantor, M.D., chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Glick Eye Institute. “The optic nerve is the main cable carrying the messages from the eye to the brain. Damage to the optic nerve can cause blind spots to develop, and those spots often go unnoticed until they increase in size, impairing sight. The result is vision loss that cannot be recovered.”

The disease can occur without symptoms in up to 50 percent of patients who have glaucoma. In the U.S., more than 4 million people have glaucoma.

African-Americans and Hispanics are more susceptible to the disease although it strikes all races. Risk factors for glaucoma include:

ā€¢ Age

ā€¢ Being African-AmericanĀ or Hispanic

ā€¢ Having a family history of glaucoma

ā€¢ Having elevated eye pressure

ā€¢ Being farsighted or nearsighted

ā€¢ Having previous eye injuries

ā€¢ Having other health problems such as diabetes, low blood pressure or migraine headaches

Working with Alon Harris, Ph.D., director of clinical research for the Glick Eye Institute, Dr. Cantor hopes their approach to understanding glaucoma will benefit patients in Indiana and around the world. “In Indiana alone, the number of patients with glaucoma could fill Lucas Oil Stadium,” he says. “And there are thousands more who have the disease who don’t know it, and they are most at risk for vision loss.”

Their study, the Indianapolis Glaucoma Progression Study, is the largest of its kind. With 120 patients enrolled for three years, the clinical trial is in its second year, and is focused on vascular – or blood flow – causes or effects of the disease. Dr. Harris is principal investigator of the study.

“I hope they learn something that can be applied to problems in the short run,” said patient Jim Palmer, an Indianapolis resident. “This study on blood flow might find out that it is just as significant as pressure, and that could be of benefit to all glaucoma patients.”

Dr. Harris explains that eye pressure is the most common measurement in glaucoma. But he notes that some patients develop glaucoma and don’t experience the high ocular pressure common in other patients, and some of those patients without high pressure lose sight to the disease. The research is important to determine if blood flow plays a part in the disease. Maybe, he said, some patients don’t receive enough blood flow to their eyes. This study will help determine if improper blood flow is a side effect of the disease or a cause of the disease.

“Unlocking the answer to that question could give us different treatment options for glaucoma,” Dr. Harris said. “Understanding the role the vascular system plays in the disease would bring a new way of looking at glaucoma patients.”

For information on the study, visit iueye.iu.edu. For information on glaucoma, visit nei.nih.gov.

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