Ocular Hypertension
Ocular hypertension means the pressure inside the eye is higher than normal, caused by the front of the eye not draining fluid properly. It is not glaucoma, but it is the main risk factor for it.
Key points
- Glaucoma is damage to the optic nerve that causes vision loss, and raised eye pressure can lead to it.
- Millions of people have raised intraocular pressure without having glaucoma, which is why the two are counted separately.
- A major study asked whether treating raised pressure early with eye drops prevents glaucoma developing.
- The same research aimed to identify who is likely to develop glaucoma and would benefit from treatment, and who could be monitored without it.
Medicines listed for Ocular Hypertension
All five listed products are eye drops. They contain brimonidine, timolol, bimatoprost, latanoprost and dorzolamide. Two of the five combine two active ingredients: Cosopt pairs dorzolamide with timolol, and Combigan pairs brimonidine with timolol. The remaining three are single-ingredient drops.




