Glaucoma Drugs May Play Role in Longer Life

Early death risk drops with use, but other factors may contribute, experts say

By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter

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MONDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) --People who take medication to treat glaucoma appear to outlive those who don't treat the eye disease, new research has found.

However, whether the reduced risk for premature death stems from the glaucoma drugs themselves or from the individuals' overall health or even their access to health care remains unclear.

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Use of glaucoma drugs poses important questions for the more than 2 million Americans with the eyesight-threatening condition, which causes steady deterioration of the optic nerve, said Dr. Joshua D. Stein, an assistant professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Michigan and lead author of a report on the research, published in the February issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology.

"There are four or five classes of drugs for ophthalmology, and they have side effects," Stein said. "Among other things, they can affect kidney function and blood pressure, so it's important to know whether drug therapy is beneficial or detrimental to overall health."

The study, which involved 21,506 people with glaucoma or suspected glaucoma, came down strongly in favor of drug therapy. It found that the drugs do not harm overall health. And, it discovered that those who regularly took glaucoma medications had a 74 percent reduced risk for early death, compared with those who didn't take the drugs.

But Stein stressed that those numbers say nothing about whether or why regular use of glaucoma drugs lowered the chances of dying. "The type of data we are working with can't answer that question," he said.

It's possible that the medications are beneficial, acting to boost kidney function, lower blood pressure or otherwise improve general health, he said. "But the fact that all the different classes of medications have the same benefit suggests to me that it might not be the medications themselves," Stein said. "It could be the types of patients who are receiving the medications. Patients who have more life-threatening conditions are less likely to get glaucoma treatment, so perhaps they are healthier people in general. Or perhaps it is access to care. Some people who don't have access to glaucoma care have less access to medical care in general."

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