An exciting “win” in the relatively common glaucoma department could also mean a “win” for rare childhood glaucoma patients. According to an article from MedicalXpress, two recently approved treatments for glaucoma have been shown to create substantial, long lasting reductions in intraocular pressure.
A common risk factor for glaucoma is an abnormal increase in intraocular pressure. While intraocular pressure tends to vary somewhat throughout the day, people with glaucoma often experience much more dramatic fluctuations.
Netarsudil and atanoprostene bunodl (LBN), the two newly approved treatments, both have demonstrated remarkable ability to reduce eye pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma, which could mean better quality of life for the patients of rare juvenile open-angle glaucoma (JOAG).
Glaucoma is an eye disease that results in optic nerve damage, which leads to permanent vision loss. In open-angle glaucoma, which is the most common form, side vision may begin to decrease first, followed by central vision loss. It develops slowly overtime and there is no pain. Closed-angle glaucoma can appear more suddenly and with more severe symptoms, such as eye pain, redness of the eye, mid-dilated pupil that does not respond to light changes, nausea, and blurred vision. Acute, closed-angle glaucoma should be treated as a medical emergency. Risk factors for the disease include obesity, a family history of the disease, migraines, and high blood pressure.
With glaucoma, it is important that treatment begins early before the patient begins to experience major vision loss. It is possible to slow or halt the progression of glaucoma. A variety of medications, laser treatments, and surgeries are available to treat glaucoma. The principal goal of treatment is to reduce intraocular pressure. The higher a patient’s intraocular pressure, the more rapidly they can lose their vision. To learn more about glaucoma, click here.
The value of LBN for glaucoma patients primarily stems from its ability to achieve longer lasting reductions in intraocular pressure. In addition, the changes in pressure are more pronounced than in many other previous treatments. LBN is effective because of its dual action method of reducing pressure which focuses on an increase in unconventional outflow and an increase in nitrogen-oxide mediated outflow. The effectiveness of LBN is based on data from Phase II clinical trials. This treatment promises to improve quality of life for glaucoma patients by reducing the frequency of treatment dosing.
