ocular hypertension

[MARIO4879]

Dr.
I visited my optometrist and after a full exam with an air puff test, he told me my pressures were a little elevated. One eye 26 one 24. He referred me to an opthamologist. My opthamologist did a complete exam, visual field etc., and said all tests came back normal as far as no optic nerve damage and visual fields were in normal range, eye pressure was 26 and 24. Dr said I do not have glacoma but I do have ocular hypertension.
Dr. put me on xalaton and asked me back in 3 weeks to recheck. The pressures came down to 17 and 19, and he was happy with that.  Dr. asked me to continue drops at night as a prophalactic  measure, and get recheck in 4 months.
I am a worried patient, but my Dr. said I should be fine with regular follow ups and the meds are taking care of pressures. Can this ocular hypertension be treated successfully , I was told that this med could cut any future problems by 50%, and from studies done I have a 95% chance of keeping normal vision. Thank you for your time. Mario

[Sandy Feldman, MD, MS]

Dear Mario4879,

The OHTS study was national, multicenter trial that investigated the treatment of patients with ocular hypertension.  Eyedrops reduced the chance of developing glaucoma by 50% in five years, although in the study, ninety percent of patients [off medication] did not develop glaucoma.  If you have other risk factors such as a thin cornea, are older individual you are more likely to develop glaucoma.  You might want to ask your eyeMD about the thickness of the cornea.

Dr. Feldman

Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S.
ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
San Diego, California

[MARIO4879]

Thank you Dr. Feldman for your quick response. I will ask my eye MD on my next visit about cornea thickness. Another question, because I have ocular hypertension, does that mean I will develop glacoma? I am 61 years old.
Best regards,
Mario