Drugs for Glaucoma

Key points

• • Glaucoma damages the optic nerve, usually with a raised pressure inside the eye, so drugs aim to lower that pressure.
• • The drugs work in two broad ways: reducing the making of aqueous fluid, or improving its drainage from the eye.
• • Beta-blockers such as timolol and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors reduce the making of the fluid.
• • Prostaglandin analogues such as latanoprost increase the drainage of fluid and are widely used as eye drops.
• • Pilocarpine, a cholinergic drug, opens the drainage angle by pulling on it, and has a particular role in angle-closure glaucoma, though it is only part of the care.