Glaucoma is a condition in which the eye's intraocular pressure (IOP) is too high. This means that the eye has too much aqueous humor in it, either because it produced too much, or because it's not draining properly. Glaucoma occurs when pressure builds up in the eye from excess fluid. Early detection and treatment can preserve eyesight. See eyesight for more information.

Glaucoma and Diet
There is a suspicion that diet may play a role in glaucoma, but little is clearly understood at this time. Studies in rodents indicate that fish oil could reduce intra ocular pressure.

Natural Glaucoma Treatment
It would be best to limit alcohol intake and smoking, and keeping a healthy weight. Whether supplements are helpful for glaucoma is not fully known but fish oils look promising. Perhaps ginkgo biloba can be tried under medical supervision.

Reduce the pressure
Glaucoma is a group of eye disorders that cause progressive changes in the optic nerve head and/or visual field loss. An elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is often, but not always, present. Data from five large-scale clinical trials suggest that the greater the IOP reduction, the greater the protection against visual field loss. Corneal thickness is now recognized as an important predictor of glaucoma progression. The thinner the cornea, the greater the risk of progression.

Glaucoma Symptoms
Some of the symptoms of glaucoma are optic nerve damage leading to vision loss. Glaucoma can trigger loss of peripheral vision, which impairs the ability to move about safely and independently. Glaucoma can make reading difficult, by limiting vision so that only one word can be read at a time. If undiagnosed or untreated, glaucoma can cause permanent, irreversible damage to the eye.

Cause of Glaucoma
Elevated intra ocular pressure, if untreated, can cause glaucoma. But what causes IOP increase? This is not fully understood, but we do know of risk factors. Those over the age of 60, African-American, diabetics those who have a family member with glaucoma are at higher risk for glaucoma than others. Brothers and sisters of patients with glaucoma have about a 20 percent chance of having developed the disease by the time they reach age 70. That's about five times the risk of the whole population at a similar age.

Medical Glaucoma Treatment
Management of angle closure glaucoma requires an understanding of the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms. Treatment is aimed at eliminating pupillary block and other causes of angle closure, re-opening the angle, and preventing further damage to the optic nerve by lowering intraocular pressure. Medical therapy plays an important role in the successful management of this condition. Newer classes of glaucoma drugs include topical carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, prostaglandin analogues and selective alpha2- adrenergic agonists.

Intraocular Pressure and Glaucoma
Some patients with glaucoma may have greater pressure in their eyes during sleep, meaning that the severity of the disease can go unrecognized during exams that only involve daytime office visits. Higher intraocular pressure, the force within the eyeball, and greater daily fluctuation in pressure may increase the risk that glaucoma will develop or worsen. Untreated glaucoma can lead to vision loss. High intraocular pressure is recognized, perhaps, as the most important risk factor for the development of open-angle glaucoma and its progression. Many physiological and environmental conditions can affect intraocular pressure, and a single determination of intraocular pressure during regular clinic hours may not fully reveal its relationship to the optic nerve damage that accrues with glaucoma. Intraocular pressure may be higher when a person is lying down probably because the eye is level with the heart when lying down, increasing the resistance in flow of fluid in the eye and possibly creating additional pressure.

Glaucoma Globally
Global cases of the eye disease glaucoma are expected to reach 60 million by 2010 and 80 million by 2020.
Glaucoma is a preventable cause of blindness. It is a treatable disease. Glaucoma is a condition that can damage the nerve at the back of the eye. If left untreated it may result in blindness. The disorder is more common in people over 60 years old and is second only to cataracts as the leading cause of blindness.

Glaucoma Research - Glaucoma and fish oils, omega-3 fatty acids
Dietary omega 3 fatty acids decrease intraocular pressure with age by increasing aqueous outflow.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2007 Feb;48(2):756-62. Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
To determine whether there is an association between dietary omega-3 (omega-3) fatty acid intake, age, and intraocular pressure caused by altered aqueous outflow. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either omega-3-sufficient or omega-3-deficient diets from conception. The diets had 7% lipid content. The omega-3 diet contained safflower, flaxseed, and tuna oils (5.5:1.0:0.5), and the omega-3 deficient diet contained safflower oil only. Animals raised on high omega-3 diets had a 13% decrease in intra ocular pressure at 40 weeks of age. This lower intraocular pressure in the high omega-3 diet group was associated with a significant increase in outflow facility and a decrease in ocular rigidity. The high omega-3 group showed a 3 times increase in ciliary body docosahexaenoic acid. Results show Increasing dietary omega-3 reduces intra ocular pressure with age because of increased outflow facility, likely resulting from an increase in docosanoids. This indicates that dietary manipulation may provide a modifiable factor for intraocular pressure regulation.

Glaucoma questions
Q. I have read about your formula for better vision, Eyesight Rx, and I must say I got very excited.
However, I am not exactly sure if it is the dream drug that I have been waiting for or whether it is even suitable for me. I am a 23 year old female, and have congenital glaucoma in one eye (the right is artificial). Aside from the glaucoma, I have also had cataract many years ago and since has been removed. While the glaucoma has also been stable for some years now, it is now my cornea which is playing up. I have had two cornea transplants thus far, with the first one being rejected. This second one I have right now is not rejecting, but due to scarring of the eye, is blurring up once again. My question is, will Eyesight Rx help this type of condition? Also, will I be able to use it together with other eye drugs such as Combigan / Alfagan / timoptol and Flarex, including herbal pills such as St Johns Wort, vitamins etc?
   A. Eyesight Rx was formulated for age related vision loss since it helps the retina, we don't know how it will influence the cornea since we have not studied this issue.

Q. Can eyebright herb help with glaucoma?
   A. We have not seen any research testing eyebright for glaucoma.

Q. I am a 39 year old African American woman in fairly good health. I have been wearing contacts for over 20 years. I don’t wear glasses. My eye doctor recently showed me my eye xray. On it were some small white spots that they have been monitoring since 2000. They think maybe it is glaucoma. Do you think your Lutein pills can help me if I have glaucoma?
   A. It is impossible for us to predict in any individual what supplements would help them with glaucoma or any other eye condition. You may consider reading some info on eyesight and glaucoma at the above page and share the info with your doctor.

Q. i suffer from PSFX glaucoma in my right eye and am wondering if Eyesight-Rx could stop the process of making the exfoliative material. my optic nerve has severe cupping and my visual field is narrowing so i am justifiably worried.
   A. We have not tested Eyesight Rx in these conditions so we don't know.