Metformin might be a new preventive measure for all people, even those who do not have diabetes. A ten year study showed that people on the drug Metformin had a twenty five percent lower risk of developing Glaucoma.

Metformin Benefits and Side Effects

The researchers are not positive as to why the metformin reduced the glaucoma risks of the patients taking it. It has been theorized that even people who do not have diabetes could use this drug to prevent glaucoma, but there could be serious repercussions of non-diabetic individuals taking a medication that could potentially lower their blood sugar levels.

A low blood sugar level can send a person into a coma. The advantage of reducing your risk for developing glaucoma might not outweigh the possible danger you could be in if you lowered your blood sugar level to the point of becoming comatose.

The individuals in the ten year study that were taking the greatest amount of metformin were the ones to show the greatest reduction in their rick for developing glaucoma.

Some researchers theorized that the reduction in blood sugar levels created the dramatic preventive measures, but individuals who were taking other blood sugar control medications did not experience the same reduction in their risk for glaucoma.

What causes Glaucoma?

According to doctor Mark Fromer who works as an ophthamologist at Lenox Hill Hospital glaucoma is the result of s person having excessive amounts of fluid in their eye. The fluid of the eye is supposed to drain and when it does not drain properly the result can be glaucoma. You can also develop glaucoma if the blood vessels in your optic nerve become damaged.

More research is needed

Today doctors can use the information gained from the metformin study to help them treat their diabetic patients with medications that will benefit them in more than one way. Anytime a doctor can prescribe a medication that has the potential of providing more than one benefit it is a good thing. The problem is that metformin is not productive of low blood sugars in all diabetics, and people on this medication must be carefully monitored for signs of low blood sugars.

Before doctors can routinely start to prescribe metformin to their patients in hopes of controlling their blood sugars and lowering their glaucoma risks more research must be done to determine why metformin is capable of lowering the glaucoma risks in people that take it.

The research is very promising, but it will take several years more of research before doctors can begin to understand the relationship between glaucoma and metformin. Many more research projects will need to be funded, and people who do have diabetes, and people who do not have diabetes, will have to be monitored as they take the drug to see how they respond to the medication, and to see if they have lower risks of glaucoma because of the drug.