Researchers have found that immediately treating people who have early stage glaucoma can delay progression of the disease. This finding supports the medical community's emerging consensus that treatment to lower pressure inside the eye can slow glaucoma damage and subsequent vision loss. These results are reported in the October 2002 issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.
Scientists found that immediate treatment of newly-discovered primary open-angle glaucoma, the most common form of glaucoma and one of the nation's leading causes of vision loss, led to a slower rate of disease progression. The findings from this study reinforce accumulating medical evidence that lowering eye pressure in glaucoma's early stages slows progression of the disease.
"These results strongly support the body of evidence suggesting that immediate treatment of early stage, open-angle glaucoma will slow the disease progression," said Paul Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Eye Institute (NEI), one of the Federal government's National Institutes of Health and co-sponsor of the study. "Unfortunately, glaucoma has no early warning signs, and many affected patients are unaware they have the disease until it has advanced. Once people have lost vision from glaucoma, it cannot be regained. However, early detection and timely treatment would help to save the vision of thousands of people each year."
Dr. Sieving also notes that the study results provide important new medical knowledge on the course of the disease, both among treated and untreated patients. "Because most people are treated for glaucoma as soon as they are diagnosed, little is known about the natural history of the disease," he said. "Future reports from the study will add further important information on glaucoma progression and its risk factors."