[Tendencies in the etiopathogenesis of glaucoma--present and future]

Abstract

Today, glaucoma is accepted within the family of the progressive neurodegenerative diseases caused by a multifactorial stress. The arguments that plead for the fact that glaucoma is a progressive neurodegenerative disease are (1) similarities between the glaucoma and the systemic neurodegenerative diseases, (2) similarity between the normal biological degenerative processes of the aging and the glaucoma and (3) the neurodegeneration of the optic nerve head. The factors that lead to the neurodegeneration of the retinal ganglion cells are mechanical (e.g. by an increase in intraocular pressure), ischemic/reperfusion, oxidative, autoimmune and genetic stresses.