Management of glaucoma as a neurodegenerative disease

Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease with an estimated prevalence of 60 million people, and the most common cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. The mainstay of treatment has been aimed at lowering intraocular pressure, currently the only modifiable risk factor. Unfortunately, despite adequ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neurodegenerative disease management 2017-04, Vol.7 (2), p.157-172
Main Authors: Jutley, Gurjeet, Luk, Sheila MH, Dehabadi, Mohammad H, Cordeiro, M Francesca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alzheimer's disease
Apoptosis
Glaucoma
Ischemia
Neurodegeneration
neuromodulation
neuroprotection
Optic nerve
Pathogenesis
stem cell therapy
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Summary:Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease with an estimated prevalence of 60 million people, and the most common cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. The mainstay of treatment has been aimed at lowering intraocular pressure, currently the only modifiable risk factor. Unfortunately, despite adequate pressure control, many patients go on to suffer irreversible visual loss. We first briefly examine currently established intraocular pressure lowering-treatments, with a discussion of their roles in neuroprotection as demonstrated by both animal and clinical studies. The review then examines currently available intraocular pressure independent agents that have shown promise for possessing neuroprotective effects in the management of glaucoma. Finally, we explore potential future treatments such as immune-modulation, stem cell therapy and neural regeneration as they may provide further protection against the neurodegenerative processes involved in glaucomatous optic neuropathy.
ISSN:1758-2024
1758-2032
DOI:10.2217/nmt-2017-0004