Sunridge International, Inc. (SNDZ)

[TripleL]

Possible solutions

One important way of reducing burden of disease is the development of new and safer surgical options. More research into affordable medical therapy options that do not require as much patient adherence is also needed and could be an additional solution.

“I think that in the next 20 years it’s very likely … that we will develop more effective surgical treatment,” Dr. Quigley said. “We will develop more effective ways of delivering medicine to lower the eye pressure that don’t depend on daily eye drop therapy, which would improve dramatically the adherence to therapy.”

Another potential way to reduce the worldwide glaucoma burden is the creation of effective screening techniques. These screenings could help prevent glaucoma damage through early identification of those with the disease. Awareness of the need for glaucoma screening for those at highest risk for the disease is also vital around the world.

Finally, physicians should be aware that the aging world population is one of the leading reasons for the increasing rates of glaucoma, Dr. Quigley said. They should focus on diagnosing and treating at-risk patients.

“Our job is to find those that are more rapidly changing and be very aggressive about treating them,” he said. “Right now, that means lowering their eye pressure and not doing aggressive things that are damaging to persons who are not rapidly progressing, so we don’t compound their glaucoma by causing them to have other problems, like cataract or complications of eye surgery for glaucoma.”