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The effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on intraocular pressure (IOP)
Objectives: To evaluate the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on intraocular pressure (IOP) in menopausal women.
Fluctuating Intraocular Pressure
NOTICE: If you are engaged in self-tonometry and you have questions about your daily intraocular pressure fluctuations, you should read this comment about the difference in the way fluctuations are defined by mainstream ophthalmology and the fluctuations we observe in self-tonometry.
I will further preface this article by saying that I do not believe there has been a study done where subjects with normal, healthy eyes performed self-tonometry the way we are doing it.
I urge caution in comparing self-tonometry data against the data being discussed by Dr. Rick Wilson below.
It is good to try to understand as much as we can. However, I believe it is not good to misinterpret your own self-tonometry data -- or to jump to incorrect conclusions based on the apples and oranges fallacy.
-- admin
On Wednesday, May 18, 2005, Dr. Rick Wilson a glaucoma specialist at Wills, and the glaucoma chat group discussed "Fluctuating IOP's."
Moderator: Tonight's topic concerns fluctuating intraocular pressures (IOPs). In a recent chat, you said studies have shown that fluctuating IOPs are more of a risk factor than a somewhat higher, but steady IOP. Why is that?
Dr. Rick Wilson: We are not sure. Several studies have shown glaucoma patients do not auto-regulate their circulation as well as patients without glaucoma. In other words, if a patient's blood pressure increases suddenly, it pushes more blood into the eye, and the added blood flow and pressure cause more aqueous to be made. A normal eye would sense the change and constrict the blood vessels to reduce the flow of the blood under higher pressure back to normal.
P: Is that called "autoregulation?"
Dr. Rick Wilson: Correct. Autoregulation should take place with decreased blood flow or pressure, increased metabolic needs of the eye, etc. Clearly, a fluctuating IOP requires the eye to continually auto-regulate the blood flow to keep the optic nerve well supplied with oxygen and nutrients. That may be onerous for the glaucomatous eye.
P: Isn't some amount of IOP fluctuation normal even in healthy eyes? For example, aren't pressures expected to be higher in the morning than in the later part of the day? In any case, how much of a spread in IOP is considered normal?
Accuracy of Reichert Ophthalmic Instruments
Non-contact Tonometer or Air-puff Tonometer (Reichert Ophthalmic Instruments, Depew, New York, USA)
Glaucoma and Alpha Lipoic Acid
A clear fluid flows in and out of the space at the front of the eye, nourishing nearby tissues. Glaucoma causes the fluid to pass through too slowly or to stop draining altogether. As the fluid builds up, the pressure inside the eye increases, causing damage to the optic nerve and vision loss.
Effects of Mirtogenol® on ocular blood flow and intraocular hypertension in asymptomatic subjects
EDIT: Please see the full discussion of this topic here:
Effects of Mirtogenol on ocular blood flow and intraocular hypertension in asymptomatic subjects
Toxin-free eye drop 'could be a sight saver'
Tafluprost (trade names Taflotan and Saflutan) is a prostaglandin analogue used topically (as eye drops) to control the progression of glaucoma and in the management of ocular hypertension. It reduces intraocular pressure by increasing the outflow of aqueous fluid from the eyes.
Other prostaglandin analogues for glaucoma management include Xalatan (latanoprost), Travatan (travoprost), Lumigan (bimatoprost) and Travatan-Z, which is a preservative-free version of Travatan.
The articles below are marketing pieces for the preservative-free version of tafluprost (trade names Taflotan and Saflutan).
By John von Radowitz
Nocturnal IOP
Reading the article NOCTURNAL " the sleeping giant" by Arthur J. Sit, MD, i am always wondering when they say that investigators found the prostaglandin analogue provided good control for the entire 24-hour period... what do they mean by good...
What's good for one person is definitely not good enough for another.
http://www.escrs.org/PUBLICATIONS/EUROTIMES/07mar/NocturnalIOP.pdf
Here's an other interesting article about anti glaucoma drugs
Safety Profiles and Side Effects
Thoughts on EFT and Intention
Thoughts on EFT and Intention
Dr. David Lake, MD from Australia provides some useful thoughts about the role of intention with EFT (and other forms of healing). Much has been written about this interesting idea and, indeed, many EFT'ers have had great success with "intentional tapping". Intention, of course, has been present in healing sessions for centuries. However, it hasn't been until it was combined with EFT and other energy related therapies that it has produced reasonably consistent results. As Dr. Lake says, "These energies seem to mediate and facilitate intention."
Is the medication used to achieve the target intraocular pressure in glaucoma therapy of relevance?
Prog Retin Eye Res (2009) 0
By MC Grieshaber, J Flammer
Pressure Modulation May Help Preserve Vision
Fluctuations in IOP have been pinpointed as a potential cause for glaucoma and a factor in worsening the eye damage caused by the disease, writes Joseph Caprioli, M.D., of the Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA, in an accompanying editorial.
Why should IOP fluctuation be damaging? Theories abound about the mechanisms of retinal ganglion cell damage in glaucoma, but no single cellular or molecular cause satisfactorily explains the condition in all patients, Dr. Caprioli writes. Long-term variability may disrupt homeostatic mechanisms. Irregular and large IOP fluctuations may cause a loading and unloading of stresses, and as opposed to conditions of static stress, the tissue is unable to compensate and damage occurs.
Stress reactivity of intraocular pressure after relaxation training in open-angle glaucoma patients.
Kaluza G, Strempel I, Maurer H.
J Behav Med. 1996 Dec; 19(6):587-98.
Lipoic acid as a means of metabolic therapy of open-angle glaucoma
Filina AA, Davydova NG, Endrikhovskii SN, et al.
Vestn Oftalmol. 1995 Oct; 111(4):6-8.
Pathophysiology of pigment dispersion syndrome and pigmentary glaucoma.
Campbell DG, Schertzer RM.
Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 1995 Apr; 6(2):96-101.
Blood levels of thiamine and ascorbic acid in chronic open-angle glaucoma.
Asregadoo ER.
Ann Ophthalmol. 1979 Jul; 11(7):1095-100.
Blood levels of thiamine and ascorbic acid in chronic open-angle glaucoma are determined in this study. Dietary vitamin intake was compared with thiamine and ascorbic acid blood levels in a sample of 38 patients with glaucoma and 12 controls. These patients had a statistically significant lower thiamine blood level than controls (P less than 0.001), but no significant difference was found for ascorbic acid blood levels. Poor absorption of thiamine occurred in the glaucomatous patients in this study
Protective effects of a vitamin B12 analog, methylcobalamin, against glutamate cytotoxicity in cultured cortical neurons.
vitamin B12 Akaike A, Tamura Y, Sato Y, et al.
Eur J Pharmacol. 1993 Sep 7; 241(1):1-6.
