A new type of medicated eye drop may be able to reverse symptoms of glaucoma, an Italian study has suggested.
Glaucoma, the world's leading cause of blindness, is caused by pressure inside the eye - intraocular pressure - which damages cells in the optic nerve.
The study of rats and human patients found drops containing a nerve growth factor may stop these cells dying, and actually improve vision.
It is reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
It is estimated that 77m people have glaucoma around the world.
The build up of intraocular pressure can sometimes be controlled through other techniques.
But once pressure has started to damage optic nerve cells, called retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), it has proved impossible to recover that lost function.
And often people with glaucoma do not seek expert help until the condition is already relatively advanced.
The researchers, from the University of Rome, treated rats with symptoms of glaucoma with eye drops containing nerve growth factor.
The animals who were given the eye drops showed decreased levels of RGC death compared with those who did not receive the treatment. Read more...
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