New York, February 10: Taking various glaucoma medication lowers the risk of death in sufferers from different causes, a new study finds.
Glaucoma — an eye condition in which damaged optic nerve leads to progressive, irreversible loss of vision — is the second leading cause of blindness.
According to the study of Ophthalmology, glaucoma drugs, regardless of their type, increase the survival rate in the affected patients.
Some of these drugs act through lowering blood pressure, the main risk factor for heart attacks and strokes, and treating irregular heart rates. Others, conversely, are more effective in patients with congestive heart failure.
“Our main finding were that people who filled at least one 30-day prescription for a medication had a 74 percent reduced hazard of death as compared to those who received no medications,” concluded lead researcher Joshua Stein.
—–Agencies