Posted on June 14, 2004 at 3:00 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Researchers at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) say that long-term use of statins may help prevent the onset of glaucoma. Statins are drugs used to control cholesterol for patients with cardiovascular disease. The research, reported in the June 14 issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology, showed that long-term use of statins, particularly for 24 months or longer, provided a protective effect against glaucoma.

Researchers at the UAB Department of Ophthalmology Clinical Research Unit, in collaboration with colleagues at Duke University, compared 667 men over the age of 50 with glaucoma against 6,667 male control patients over a five-year span. All were patients at the Birmingham Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (BVAMC). There was a significant trend toward a reduced risk of glaucoma with extended statin use. A protective effect was also noticed with non-statin cholesterol-lowering agents.

“The results of this study suggest that long-term statin users have a reduced risk of developing glaucoma,” says Gerald McGwin, Ph.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology and co-principal investigator of the study. “In addition to the currently effective treatments for glaucoma, this study suggests that effective prevention may also be possible.”

McGwin says statins have also been connected to a potential reduction of risk for age-related macular degeneration as well as Alzheimer’s disease. He has recently published studies demonstrating the protective effect of statins on both of these conditions. He also stresses that further research is necessary, particularly in women and in clinical settings. The current research utilized an administrative database maintained by BVAMC.

Glaucoma is a group of diseases that can damage the eye’s optic nerve and result in vision loss and blindness. Those at risk for glaucoma include African-Americans over the age of 40, everyone over age 60 and anyone with a family history of glaucoma. If untreated, glaucoma patients may miss objects to the side and out of the corner of their eye. Without treatment, people with glaucoma will slowly lose their peripheral vision and straight-ahead vision may decrease until no vision remains. While there is no cure for glaucoma, there are effective treatments that can slow the progression of the disease.

This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland; a Lew Wasserman Merit Award from Research to Prevent Blindness, New York, New York; and the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama, Birmingham.

NOTE: We are the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Please use UAB on second reference. We are not to be confused with the University of Alabama, which is a separate, independent campus.