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Understanding Glaucoma

What is glaucoma? 

Glaucoma is a progressive eye disease primarily caused by increased pressure inside the eye. Just as water builds up in a dam, the fluid in your eye can build up and increase pressure inside your eye. The increased pressure can damage the optic nerve, which is the nerve that relays messages from your eyes to your brain to create visual images.

Many people with glaucoma do not have any symptoms or pain, which is why it’s important to have regular eye exams that include specific tests for glaucoma. Left untreated, glaucoma can reduce your vision, sometimes making objects look blurry or dark around the outside edges. 

As glaucoma progresses, the darkness or blurriness expands, which can lead to vision loss and even blindness. If detected and diagnosed early, an eye doctor can recommend treatments to manage glaucoma and help prevent permanent vision loss.

Two types of glaucoma: open-angle and angle-closure 

Open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of the disease in the US and affects approximately 95% of individuals diagnosed with glaucoma. Initially, open-angle glaucoma has no symptoms, but if left untreated it can reduce your vision. 

Angle-closure glaucoma occurs when the normal flow of fluid between the iris and the lens is blocked. Angle-closure glaucoma can be acute (appear suddenly) or chronic (develop slowly). Symptoms of acute angle-closure glaucoma may include severe pain, nausea, and blurred vision requiring immediate medical care. Chronic angle-closure glaucoma progresses slowly and can damage eyesight and vision without symptoms, much like open-angle glaucoma. 

Who gets glaucoma?

More than 3 million Americans are living with glaucoma. There are more than 80 million people with glaucoma worldwide and that number is expected to rise to over 110 million by 2040.

Age is one of the major risk factors for glaucoma. If you are over 40, or have any of the following conditions or characteristics, talk to an eye doctor about having a complete glaucoma exam. 

What treatments are available? 

Your eye doctor will help you understand different treatments to reduce eye pressure and help manage glaucoma, and help you decide which one is best for your needs. If you have glaucoma or high eye pressure, there are a few options that your eye doctor may prescribe or recommend:

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Prescription eye drops are effective at lowering eye pressure, but many patients find drops challenging due to redness, irritation, stinging, and difficulty putting them in the eye 

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Laser treatments help drain fluid from the eye to lower pressure 

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Micro-invasive surgical options are available for patients who are interested in effective eye pressure and glaucoma management along with reducing or eliminating prescription medications   

There are also new minimally-invasive treatments that can lower your eye pressure and help manage glaucoma. If you are interested in new treatments, here are some helpful talking points for you and your eye doctor: 

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Learn more about an FDA-approved treatment that lowers eye pressure and helps manage glaucoma

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Important Safety Information

iDose TR is gently placed directly inside your eye by your eye doctor.

You should not have iDose TR if you have an infection or suspected infection in your eye or the area surrounding your eye, have corneal endothelial cell dystrophy, a condition in which the clear front layer of your eye (cornea) has lost its ability to work normally as this can cause vision problems, have had a corneal transplant or cells transplanted to the inner layer of the cornea (endothelial cell transplant), are allergic to any of its ingredients, and/or have narrow angles (the iris and the cornea are too close together).

The most common side effect of iDose TR was increased eye pressure. Other common side effects were inflammation of the iris, dry eye, a loss of part of the usual field of vision, eye pain, eye redness and reduced clearness of vision.

If you have additional questions, please contact your doctor. For full Prescribing Information click here.

Approved Uses

iDose TR (travoprost intracameral implant) is a prescription medicine and drug delivery system for the eye approved to lower eye pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma or high eye pressure (ocular hypertension).

You are encouraged to report all side effects to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088. You may also call Glaukos at 1-888-404-1644.