Complementary Therapy for the Treatment of Glaucoma by Robert Ritch
by Robert Ritch, MD
From the Departments of Ophthalmology, The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York, NY, and The New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY Supported in part by the Joseph and Marilyn Rosen Research Fund of the New York Glaucoma Research Institute Corresponding author: Robert Ritch, MD, Glaucoma Associates of New York, The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, 310 East 14th Street suite 304, New York, NY, 10003
Glaucoma is a progressive optic neuropathy characterized by a specific pattern of optic nerve head and visual field damage. Damage to the visual system in glaucoma is due to the death of the retinal ganglion cells, the axons of which comprise the optic nerve and carry the visual impulses from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma represents a final common pathway resulting from a number of different conditions that can affect the eye, many of which are associated with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). It is important to realize that elevated IOP is not synonymous with glaucoma, but rather is the most important risk factor we know of for the development and/or progression of glaucomatous damage.
