Table of Contents
1. Glaucoma
A patient with open angle glaucoma was referred. Open angle glaucoma is a condition in which the fluid inside the eye affected drains slower than it should, this result in an increase of fluid pressure. The pressure in the eye can sometimes rise to a point resulting in nerve damage. If the pressure gets too high, the nerves which are connected to the retina of the brain can eventually detach and lead to permanent loss of sight. The patient had dark colored iris.
Prostaglandin analogues like Lumigan, rescula, Travatan and Xalatan are used to treat the above problem. These drugs lower the intraocular pressure by enabling the increase of uveoscleral outflow of the aqueous humor. They are very effective in reducing the eye pressure with another advantage of once a day administration. Prostaglandin analogs like Xalatan are highly recommended for such a patient as they lower the IOP by up to 50% and has been favored as the best eye pressure reducing drug. Xalatan was specifically recommended to the patient because he had dark colored iris (Eye digest).
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2. Aging and its impact on the elderly
Studies estimate that 2.25 million Americans aged above 40 years have primary open-angle glaucoma. Thus this is quiet a number and during precautions, doctors should be cautious to this group as normal aging alters the speed and ways the body metabolizes the drug. This means that prescription drug labels should specify whether different doses are needed for the older people. Such information is rarely available especially in the OTC drugs.
According to medicine.net, the elevated IOP is typical for those over 40 years and increases with age. The elderly are treated to lower the eye pressure to normal levels so that they are not threatened by high IOP thus prevent damage of optic nerve. Different treatments are available like laser surgery, oral medication and eye drops. Oral medications should be prescribed for elderly glaucoma patients as they function to increase fluid flow from the eye (Washngton I. 2010).