Glaucoma not just an eye disease

Glaucoma, long held to be a disease primarily of higher than normal pressure inside the eye, in reality may be a degenerative neurological disease which causes the neural cell death in a similar fashion to Parkinson's or Alzheimer's.

In a recent article, specialists presented a view of glaucoma focused on the degeneration of the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their axons in the optic nerve rather than the traditional explanation of a lack of blood supply or mechanical pressure on the fragile nerves.

This new thinking could pave the way for a whole new generation of medications for treating glaucoma borrowing research and techniques associated with treating other degenerative neurological conditions.