The Food and Drug Administration has approved two new drugs for the management of glaucoma. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the United States and the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world. Glaucoma is characterized by an increase in the pressure within the eyeball from a fluid within the eye called the aqueous humor. This increase in eye pressure, if left untreated, damages the optic nerve and leads to blindness. Lumigan (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution) and... more
The first line of glaucoma treatment is the use of prescription eyedrops. Several classes of medications are effective at lowering IOP and thus preventing optic nerve damage in chronic and neonatal glaucoma. Beta blockers (e.g. timolol), carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (e.g. acetazolamide), and alpha-2 agonists (e.g. brimonidine tartrate) inhibit aqueous humor production. Miotics (e.g. pilocarpine) and prostaglandin analogues (e.g. latanoprost) increase the outflow of aqueous humor. It is important... more
