Biomed Radio - Washington University School Of Medicine In St. Louis

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received almost $12 million in grants to resume the landmark Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS), which concluded that lowering pressure in the eye prevents or delays glaucoma in some patients at high risk for the disease. Washington University researchers led the original study 20 years ago and found that patients at the highest risk for glaucoma needed treatment with pressure-lowering drops. But the scientists also concluded that many with elevated pressure but no additional symptoms probably did not need treatment. Twenty years later, the same researchers are leading a follow-up study to see how their original conclusions have held up. VISION SCIENTISTS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS HAVE RECEIVED GRANTS, TOTALING ALMOST 12 MILLION DOLLARS, TO CHECK IN WITH MORE THAN 1500 PATIENTS AND LEARN ABOUT HOW LOWERING ELEVATED PRESSURE IN THEIR EYES AFFECTED THEIR LONG-TERM RISK FOR GLAUCOMA. JIM DRYDEN HAS