Glaucoma

Many days, the sheer weight of Iszurette Hunter's clinical depression becomes more than she can lift. She clings to her bed in her South Los Angeles home. Important obligations slide away, including keeping appointments with doctors who are trying to control her asthma and high blood pressure. "I don't have no desire," she explains. As the nation seeks to extend healthcare coverage to millions of new and in many cases chronically ill patients, one of the great parallel challenges to controlling costs and improving delivery of care will be managing the mental health problems of people like Hunter.

Re "The marijuana measures," Editorial, May 10 Your editorial supporting Measure D mentions medical marijuana as a treatment for glaucoma patients. In my 25 years as a glaucoma sufferer, I have never been prescribed marijuana. In fact, research suggests that the side-effects of smoking pot outweigh any therapeutic benefits. Medical marijuana should not be used as an excuse to pass Measure D. John Choy Torrance ALSO: Letters: Jolie's choice Letters: The next dog Letters: It's UC, not McDonald's

Some patients with glaucoma may have greater pressure in their eyes during sleep, meaning that the severity of the disease can go unrecognized during daytime exams, researchers have found. Higher intraocular pressure, the force within the eyeball, and greater daily fluctuation in pressure may increase the risk that glaucoma will develop or worsen, according to the report in the February issue of Archives of Ophthalmology. Untreated glaucoma can lead to vision loss.

She feared the worst at first. What if she tripped? What if she fell? What if she ran head-on into a wall? Blind for 16 years, Maria Perez still struggled getting around in her Santa Clarita home. And then someone came along and dared her to take the stage as an actress, under the lights, under the gaze of an audience. VIDEO: Blind theater troupe "There's no way," she thought. "No way I can do it. " That was two years ago, when she first joined Theater by the Blind, a troupe of actors who put on a show despite their disability.

Researchers have identified two mutant forms of a single gene that are responsible for 99% of cases of a common form of glaucoma. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide, second only to cataracts. The gene mutations cause exfoliative glaucoma, in which a protein called elastin builds up in the ducts that drain excess fluid from the eye. The undrained fluid puts pressure on the optic nerve, eventually leading to blindness.

Scientists peering deep into the eyes of rats have discovered a new target for treating glaucoma: Blocking a chemical called nitric oxide may slow, if not prevent, the blindness. So far, it has worked only in rats. But the research is so promising that Missouri scientists are talking with pharmaceutical companies about trying to create a drug for glaucoma patients.

Doctors have known for years that nearsightedness is linked to glaucoma. Now a study of 5,000 healthy volunteers has shown that farsightedness is a risk too. As part of the Beaver Dam Eye Study in Wisconsin, the mostly white participants, age 43 to 84, had eye exams, including measurements of pressure within the eye. Most of them returned five years later for follow-up examinations.

The Food and Drug Administration approved two new drugs for glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness, for use in patients who aren't helped by existing treatments. One of the drugs, Travatan, has been shown by one study to be particularly effective in African Americans, who are at special risk for the disease, according to its manufacturer, a unit of Nestle. Irvine-based Allergan Inc. makes the other drug, Lumigan. The FDA's approval sets up a marketing battle between Lumigan and Pharmacia Corp.'

"I haven't felt a thing, felt it at all." --President George Bush, after he learned he was at risk for glaucoma. If George Bush hadn't been President--and under the watchful care of his own personal physician--he might very well have not bothered to see an ophthalmologist since he hadn't "felt a thing."

Allergan Inc., an Irvine maker of drugs used in eye and skin care, said Monday a late-stage trial found its once-a-day glaucoma drug Lumigan more effective than a commonly used twice-a-day medicine at treating a symptom of the eye disorder. The company's stock rose $4, or 5.3%, to $80.19 a share on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares have risen 61% this year. Allergan said Lumigan decreased pressure within patients' eyes significantly more than twice-daily timolol, made by Merck & Co.

Medication to treat ocular hypertension may drastically cut the frequency of developing a common form of glaucoma, a study finds. A letter released today in the journal Archives of Ophthamology reports on a study of 1,636 people who were randomly assigned to a group that received medical treatment for ocular hypertension or to a group that was observed. After following up with the groups for an average 7.5 years, the observation group was offered medication, and both groups were followed again for an average 5.5 years.

More frequent visual tests for glaucoma patients could allow physicians to better follow the  condition's progression, a study finds. A study released online Monday in the Archives of Ophthamology examined data on 468 eyes of 381 patients age 35 to 80 who were part of a long-term intervention study. The participants had primary open-angle glaucoma no longer being controlled by medication. This type of glaucoma is the most common form and usually hits people over 50. It causes damage to the optic nerve and usually progresses slowly, sometimes without being noticed.

Taking a prescription drug for a cosmetic side effect -- at the risk of other side effects -- may seem risky. But it's a risk that many Americans, mostly women, have shown themselves happy to take. Latisse, originally a glaucoma drug marketed under the name Lumigan, was approved separately at the end of last year for its eyelash-enhancing purposes, and its maker, Allergan, has reported sales of $47.7 million thus far. The company says 2009 sales could reach $70 million, exceeding projections of $30 million to $50 million.

A nubby black cloth covers the sole window in Frank Lucero's Hemet living room, casting a perpetual dusk over his refuge, a space as cramped as the prison cells where he spent a decade. He can't bear the light. Even an overcast day on the sprawling range shadowed by the San Jacinto Mountains brings on headache, dull pain in his right eye and ghostly sensations in the empty socket of his left.

Federal regulators said a glaucoma drug from Allergan Inc. appears to make eyelashes longer and fuller, and experts soon will assess the safety of that new use. The Irvine company has asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve its bimatoprost formula to enhance eyelashes. On Friday a panel of experts will comment on the drug's safety and effectiveness as a cosmetic. The drug is already marketed under the name Lumigan to treat eye conditions stemming from glaucoma. In studies for that treatment, researchers first noticed the drug seemed to stimulate eyelash growth.

The governors of New York and Oregon are doing fine after each underwent surgery. New York Gov. David Paterson had a successful cataract surgery, spokeswoman Erin Duggan said, and planned to resume his normal schedule today. Paterson, 54, is legally blind. The cataract was discovered during a procedure last month to relieve pain from acute glaucoma. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, 68, planned to leave Salem Hospital today after having his gall bladder removed, said spokeswoman Anna Richter Taylor.

A precise series of laser burns is as effective as liquid drops in controlling glaucoma, a vision-robbing eye disease that affects about 3 million Americans, a study indicates. In a study to be published today in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, researchers followed the progress of more than 200 patients for seven years and found there was little difference in the glaucoma-afflicted eyes treated with lasers and those treated with drops.

Blacks are four to five times more likely than whites to develop one of the most common causes of preventable blindness in the United States, according to the first major study to explore in detail long-suspected racial differences in rates of glaucoma. The study, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., found that disparities in health care did not explain the racial gap.

Researchers have identified two mutant forms of a single gene that are responsible for 99% of cases of a common form of glaucoma. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide, second only to cataracts. The gene mutations cause exfoliative glaucoma, in which a protein called elastin builds up in the ducts that drain excess fluid from the eye. The undrained fluid puts pressure on the optic nerve, eventually leading to blindness.

HOLDING your breath while lifting weights -- a common no-no for exercisers -- could potentially increase the risk of glaucoma. In a study published in this month's Archives of Ophthalmology, researchers asked 30 men who were regular exercisers and did not have glaucoma to do bench presses while breathing normally and while holding their breath. Their intraocular eye pressure was then measured during the exercises.