Asthma Treatment Linked To Glaucoma

Using high doses of inhaled steroids for three months or more to treat asthma and other lung diseases increases the risk of glaucoma in older patients by 44 percent, according to a study to be published today.

Older patients taking steroids should be checked for glaucoma, the researchers from McGill University in Montreal said.

“The message here is don’t stop using these medications … (but) let an ophthalmologist check your eyes,” said Samy Suissa, an author of the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.