Scientists found that daily pressure-lowering eye drops reduced the development of primary open-angle glaucoma in African Americans by almost 50%. Primary open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma and one of the nation's leading causes of vision loss.  Of the African American study participants who received the eye drops, 8.4 percent developed glaucoma.

By comparison, 16.1 percent of the African American study participants who did not receive the eye drops developed glaucoma. The study was funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), two components of the Federal government's National Institutes of Health.

The results of this study, called the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS), are a follow-up to initial results released two years ago. In those findings, researchers discovered that treating people with elevated eye pressure could delay or prevent the onset of glaucoma. At that time, results for the subgroup of African Americans trended in the same direction, but were not conclusive.

Primary open-angle glaucoma affects about 2.2 million Americans age 40 and over, half of whom are not aware they have the disease. Vision loss from glaucoma occurs when the optic nerve is damaged. In most cases, elevated eye pressure, also called ocular hypertension, contributes to this damage. This causes gradual loss of peripheral (side) vision.

As the disease progresses, the field of vision gradually narrows and blindness can result. Glaucoma has no early symptoms, and by the time people experience problems with their vision, they usually have a significant amount of optic nerve damage. However, if detected early, glaucoma can usually be controlled and serious vision loss prevented. Comprehensive dilated eye examinations are recommended at least once every two years for African Americans over age 40 and all people over age 60.

"This is the first study to recruit large numbers of African Americans to examine the benefit of pressure-lowering eye drops to prevent or delay the onset of glaucoma," said Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., director of the NEI. "The results underscore that African Americans over age 40 should receive a comprehensive dilated eye exam at least once every two years to see if they are at higher risk for glaucoma."

These results do not imply that every African American with high eye pressure requires treatment, according to Eve Higginbotham, M.D., chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and first author of the journal article.   

More Cool Tips...