Why Epinephrine and Apraclonidine drug is commonly used for Treating Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a disease that affects people in a slow manner and the people seldom know that they are under the grip of a very serious eye disease.

There are many drugs that are being used in treating glaucoma and we will see why the two popular drugs by name Epinephrine and Apraclonidine are widely used.

Epinephrine Drug

This drug is marketed with various brand names such as Epinal, Epifrin, Eppy, Epitrate, and Glaucon. The medical reaction is very non-selective in the sense that the medicine will act more than a single area of the eye and it interferes with trabecular secretion, aqueous flow and uveascleral outflow.

The chemical composition of the epinephrine drug is very similar to the hormone secreted by adrenal gland in humans that controls the intra ocular pressure.

Medical practitioners are still not able to exactly ascertain the situation that triggers production of this fluid by the gland and as on today the nature’s own remedial measure is yet to be fully understood.

In lay man terms Glaucoma is an eye disease where in your eyeball will develop pressure inside. The Epinephrine medicine used will reduce the IOP (Intra Ocular Pressure) but may result in additional undesired complications.

For instance, after some time of application or immediately after applying the medicine, the drug may cause redness in eyes.

The redness is due to the dilation of blood vessels in the eye and though the redness harmless, many people may not like to be seen with red eyes for obvious reasons.

There are few reports about the medicine causing itching or allergic reactions also.

Medical experts after a prolonged research brought out a new drug by brand name Propine which is nothing but a composition of epinephrine and dipivefrin.

The newly formulated drug was found out to be more effective for the reason that the combination drug has the ability to penetrate the cornea and to reach the inner areas of the eyes very fast.

Further, due to the fast penetration, some of the unwanted effects of epinephrine are also avoided, but for a temporary period only and soon your eyes will start showing the old unwanted symptoms or side effects of redness, etc.

The propine drug, unlike the miotics, is useful in dilation of the pupil and this behaviour is very useful in countering the pupil-constricting properties experienced while using miotics such as pilocarpine and carbachol.

During the use of propine drug, the blood vessels located over the surface area of our eyes will get constricted and there by you can avoid the redness of your eye sclera.

If you are in the habit of using soft contact lenses for vision enhancement then using epinephrine can result in a blurred vision because the drug will stain the lens surface.

You can avoid this situation if you can use propine in the place of epinephrine, as propine will penetrate the cornea and enter into the eyeball very fast.

If you are diagnosed with certain heart conditions and/or high blood pressure, then you should use epinephrine with caution as the drug can result in high blood pressure (acute hypertension), irregular heart beat (arrhythmia), and chest pains (angina) and in the event of your already suffering from this problems, then the situation may worsen.

Apraclonidine Drug

Apraclonidine is also known as lopidine and is a yet another drug used in glaucoma treatment. The drug is believed to be work on the principles of reducing the formation of aqueous humor and there by reduce the IOP.

Initially, the drug apraclonidine was prescribed for controlling sudden and occasional spikes in IOP, a resultant effect of undergoing laser treatment.

On seeing the beneficial effects of the drug in reducing intra ocular pressure, the practicing ophthalmologists took up the matter with FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in U.S and in 1995 FDA has approved use of apraclonidine for treating glaucoma.

Like any other effective drugs, apraclonidine also does have side effects and the possible side effects are pupil dilation, discomfort in eyes, burning sensation, eye dryness, itching and either dimmed vision or vision blurring.

Few people have reported allergic reactions and miniature or localized hemorrhages in the conjunctiva.In your other body system, use of apraclonidine drug can result in vomiting, pain and discomfort in stomach, and even diarrhea.

People who have been diagnosed with severe cardiovascular conditions are cautioned against use of this drug. In selective cases, patients have even reported sleeplessness (insomnia), disturbed sleep, restlessness, and even decrease in their sexual appetite.

Few other patients have reported a burning sensation in chest region very similar to hyperacidity problem, burning sensation either in mouth or nasal regions, shortness of breath, fatigue for no valid reasons, and even sweaty hands or palms.

A yet another report says that when the drug is used over a long period of time the effectiveness of the drug seems to be reduced for unknown reasons.

Hence it is strongly advised that you should immediately contact your doctor in case of any abnormal symptoms or side effects when you use the above-mentioned medications.

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