advertisement
Abstract #21951 Published in IGR 10-4
Glaucoma as a neuropathy amenable to neuroprotection and immune manipulation
Schwartz M; London AProgress in Brain Research 2008; 173: 375-384
Glaucoma, once thought as a single disease, is actually a group of diseases of the optic nerve involving loss of retinal ganglion cells. The process of cell death occurs in a characteristic pattern of optic neuropathy, a broad term for a certain pattern of damage to the optic nerve (the bundle of nerve fibers that carries information from the eye to the brain). Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent damage of the optic nerve and resultant visual field loss, which can progress to blindness. Worldwide, it is estimated that about 66.8 million people have visual impairment as a result of glaucoma, with 6.7 million suffering from blindness.
Dr. M. Schwartz, Department of Neurobiology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Michal.schwartz@weizmann.ac.il
