Glaucoma is one of the most common causes of permanent blindness in the world. Millions of people live with this disease, and many do not realize they have it until their vision has already been damaged.
Now, scientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered that a group of common vitamins may help slow down or even stop the disease from getting worse. Their research was published in the medical journal Cell Reports Medicine and has already led to a clinical trial with patients in Sweden.
Glaucoma is a disease that slowly damages the optic nerve. The optic nerve carries visual signals from the eye to the brain, allowing us to see. When this nerve becomes damaged, vision gradually disappears. At first, people may lose side vision, and in later stages the disease can lead to complete blindness.
Doctors have known for many years that high pressure inside the eye is a major risk factor for glaucoma. Because of this, most treatments today focus on lowering eye pressure. Patients are often given special eye drops. Some people receive laser treatment, while others may need surgery.
These treatments can slow the disease for many patients, but they do not always work well for everyone. Some people continue to lose vision even when their eye pressure is under control.
Because of this problem, scientists have been searching for other causes of glaucoma and new ways to treat it.
In the new study, researchers looked at the health of the retina, the thin layer of light‑sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The retina plays a key role in vision because it detects light and sends signals to the brain through the optic nerve. If the retina becomes unhealthy, the optic nerve may also suffer damage.
For many years, scientists suspected that a substance called homocysteine might play a role in glaucoma. Homocysteine is a chemical produced during normal metabolism in the body. Previous studies had found higher levels of homocysteine in people with glaucoma, so some researchers believed it might contribute to the disease.
However, the Karolinska team wanted to test this idea carefully. They studied rats with glaucoma and increased their homocysteine levels to see whether the disease would worsen. Surprisingly, the glaucoma did not become more severe.
The researchers also examined data from human patients with glaucoma. They found that people with higher homocysteine levels in their blood did not experience faster vision loss. In addition, people who had genes that naturally produce higher homocysteine levels were not more likely to develop glaucoma.
These results suggested that homocysteine itself was not causing the disease. Instead, it might simply be a sign that something else is going wrong in the eye.
When the scientists looked deeper, they discovered that the retina in glaucoma patients showed signs of slower metabolism. Metabolism refers to the chemical processes that help cells produce energy and stay healthy. If these processes slow down, cells may struggle to function properly and become more vulnerable to damage.
The team noticed that several important vitamins involved in metabolism were not being used effectively in the retina. This led the researchers to wonder whether restoring these nutrients might help protect the eye.
To test this idea, they gave laboratory animals with glaucoma a combination of vitamin B6, vitamin B9 (also known as folate), vitamin B12, and choline. These nutrients are already known to support many important processes in the body, including nerve health and energy production.
The results were striking. In mice with a slow‑developing form of glaucoma, damage to the optic nerve stopped completely after the vitamin treatment. In rats with a faster and more aggressive form of the disease, the progression of glaucoma slowed down significantly.
One of the most surprising findings was that the vitamins worked even though they did not lower eye pressure. This means the treatment may protect the eye in a completely different way, by improving the health and metabolism of retinal cells.
The scientists believe that when the retina receives the nutrients it needs, its cells may become stronger and better able to resist damage.
Because the laboratory results were so promising, the researchers have already started a clinical trial. The trial is taking place at S:t Eriks Eye Hospital in Stockholm.
Doctors are currently recruiting patients with two types of glaucoma: primary open‑angle glaucoma, the most common form of the disease, and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma, which tends to progress more quickly.
If the vitamin treatment proves effective in people, it could change how glaucoma is treated in the future. Instead of focusing only on lowering eye pressure, doctors might also support the metabolic health of the retina and optic nerve.
This research highlights a growing understanding that nutrition and metabolism may play an important role in many diseases that affect the nervous system, including those that damage vision.
For patients and doctors alike, the findings offer a hopeful possibility. A simple combination of well‑known vitamins might one day help protect eyesight and slow the progression of a disease that has long been one of the leading causes of blindness.
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