What is neuroprotection and how does it apply to glaucoma treatment?
Neuroprotection is a broad term to cover any therapeutic strategy to prevent nerve cells called neurons from dying, and it usually involves an intervention, either a drug or treatment. There is significant amount of scientific work that is currently going on in this area, but much more research is needed to identify the best pathways to target for neuroprotection. The eye is the most accessible part of the central nervous system. The eye and the nerves that are in the retina represent an integral part of the brain. If you have problems in most regions of the spinal cord and brain, they are mostly inaccessible. But in diseases of the eye, we have much more opportunity for direct intervention, which makes it ideal for studying neuroprotection. However, until recently, not much thought and effort has been directed to promoting neuroprotection for glaucoma. What is the goal of neuroprotection? For glaucoma, as well as for other neurodegenerative diseases, the goal is to keep the neurons al
