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Spring 2014 • Kentucky
This new class of glaucoma drugs promises to act specifically on the eye’s drainage
canals, called the trabecular meshwork,
a main outflow and blockage site in glaucoma. Rho kinase (ROCK) inhibitors
target cells in the trabecular meshwork
to enhance aqueous humor outflow. No
drugs currently on the market enhance
the eye’s fluid outflow in this way. ROCK
inhibitors are not yet approved and available for glaucoma patients, and two US
companies, Aerie and Altheos, are in early
clinical research development.
But the current technology for medication
delivery is in itself problematic. “We are
fooling ourselves if we believe the current
standard of drug delivery is adequate,”
says Moore.
To that end, Kentucky General Assembly
has under review a new bill, SB118, that
if passed will allow refill of eye drops
prescriptions in 23 days instead of the
routine 30 days. Dr. Sheila Sanders, also at
UK’s Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences,
says, “It’s so frustrating to have patients
running out of their needed medications
because eye drops are so challenging to
administer.”
Education is key, Sanders and Moore
agree. Both physicians work to educate
patients on the disease as well as how to
effectively use their eye drops.
1. Tip your head back or lie on a couch
and look straight up at the ceiling.
2. Hold the bottle perpendicular to the
floor and look up at the bottle tip,
which should be a few inches above
your eye.
3. Pull the lower lid down with one
hand.
4. Steady your hands by resting the
wrist of the hand holding the bottle
onto the hand holding the eye lid.
5. Apply a drop.
6. Keep the bottle from touching the
eye or it can become contaminated.
And do not attempt to look in a
mirror during instillation; this practically guarantees drops will fall to the
floor.
Other medication