The study revealed that after adjustments for race and age, current and former cocaine users had a 45 percent increased risk of glaucoma. Men with open-angle glaucoma also had significant exposures to amphetamines and marijuana, although less than cocaine.
Cocaine Use Increases Risk Of Glaucoma
Patients with open-angle glaucoma and history of exposure to illegal drugs were nearly 20 years younger than glaucoma patients without a drug exposure history (54 years old versus 73 years old).
“The association of illegal drug use with open-angle glaucoma requires further study, but if the relationship is confirmed, this understanding could lead to new strategies to prevent vision loss,” said study first author Dustin French.
Glaucoma is the second most common cause of blindness in the United States. Although the mechanism of vision loss in glaucoma is not fully understood, most research has focused on an increase in eye pressure gradually injuring the optic nerve. Most individuals who develop open-angle glaucoma have no symptoms until late in the disease process when substantial peripheral vision has been lost.
Dr. French and colleagues found that among the 5.3 million veterans (91 percent of whom were male) who used VA outpatient clinics in fiscal year 2009, nearly 83,000 (about 1.5 percent) had glaucoma. During the same fiscal year, nearly 178,000 (about 3.3 percent) of all those seen in the outpatient clinics had a diagnosis of cocaine use or dependency.
Although this study determined significant increased risk for glaucoma in those with a history of cocaine use, it does not prove a causal relationship. It is unlikely that glaucoma preceded the use of illegal drugs, since substance use typically begins in the teens or twenties.
The long-term effects of cocaine use on intraocular pressure, the only modifiable risk factor for glaucoma, requires further study. Should the association of cocaine use and glaucoma be confirmed in other studies, substance abuse would present another modifiable risk factor for this blinding disease.
Reference for: Cocaine Use Increases Risk Of Glaucoma
41233 
