February 10 2009, 12:32 pm PT | Posted in: Drugs (Cause Hair Loss)
I have been diagnosed with glaucoma. Treatment was started approx 10 months ago (eye drops), and has been altered because of some allergic reaction (red eyes). In the past three months, I have been losing an excessive amount of head hair, daily. Also my eyebrows and lashes are noticeably thinning. Can there be any relation to this loss with the medicine that is used to treat glaucoma?
There is no substitute to a good medical examination of your hair. I would start looking there. I know of no connection between glaucoma and head hair loss or eyebrow loss, but I would keep the medication off of the eyebrows. There is a glaucoma medication (bimatoprost) that was recently FDA approved to treat eyelash growth, and some expect that applying it to the scalp will regrow hair (I’ve not read enough about the medication and am not clear on it yet)… but I don’t know which medication you were using, so I can’t help much more.
Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):
One of the side effects of Allergan (which includes Lumigan, Alphagan and Combigan) is longer lashes, but to consider drugs like this for their potential cosmetic side effects does not take into consideration the long list of adverse health effects they can have such as:
Ocular adverse events occurring in approximately 3 to 10% of patients, in descending order of incidence, included ocular dryness, visual disturbance, ocular burning, foreign body sensation, eye pain, pigmentation of the periocular skin, blepharitis, cataract, superficial punctate keratitis, eyelid erythema, ocular irritation, and eyelash darkening. The following ocular adverse events reported in approximately 1 to 3% of patients, in descending order of incidence, included: eye discharge, tearing, photophobia, allergic conjunctivitis, asthenopia, increases in iris pigmentation, and conjunctival edema. In less than 1% of patients, intraocular inflammation was reported as iritis.
Systemic adverse events reported in approximately 10% of patients were infections (primarily colds and upper respiratory tract infections). The following systemic adverse events reported in approximately 1 to 5% of patients, in descending order of incidence, included headaches, abnormal liver function tests, asthenia and hirsutism.
Drugs such as these certainly have their place in helping preserve vision when used properly.
There are also nutrients that can help preserve vision for those with glaucoma. For more related research studies, see the “Research” section at Natural Eye Care for Glaucoma Prevention
Glaucoma is the third largest cause for blindness worldwide. It is responsible for blindness in 5.2 million people across the globe. Glaucoma is treated either with medication or through surgery, depending on the severity of the case. Medications include eye drops and pills, which when administered, reduces the eye pressure yet one need to be careful about the side effects of medication. Visit here to read more on ways to protect your eyes from Glaucoma- The silent thief of vision