115,000 Glaucoma patients to get daily eye drops that stop them going blind - in first new treatment for the 'silent thief of sight' in 25 years By Luke Chafer Published: 00:12, 11 August 2024 | Updated: 00:12, 11 August 2024 e-mail View comments Glaucoma patients are set to benefit from the first new treatment in 25 years to combat the debilitating eye condition. The once-a-day eye drop will help prevent patients from going blind by combating a build-up of pressure in the eyeball. Called Roclanda, the treatment was approved last month by the NHS spending watchdog based on research which showed it is just as effective but safer than currently available eye drops.
It is expected to benefit roughly 115,000 people in the UK. Ms Nishani Amerasinghe, a glaucoma consultant at University Hospital Southampton, describes Roclanda as a 'game-changer'. 'We haven't had anything new for glaucoma patients for over 20 years,' she says, 'so this is a really exciting treatment.
' The once-a-day eye drop will help prevent patients from going blind by combating a build-up of pressure in the eyeball. Pictured: Stock image The sight loss caused by glaucoma cannot be reversed, but treatments can slow it. Pictured: Stock image Read More Are you suffering from the 'silent thief of sight'? Five warning signs of vision-robbing condition glaucoma revealed - and the celebrities living with it Glaucoma affects more than 700,000 people in the UK, the majority of whom are over 70.
It occurs when the optic n.