Glaucoma, one leading cause of blindness in the United States and other industrialized countries, affects almost 3 million Americans. Eighty thousands of these individuals are legally blind. Though a traditional diagnosis of glaucoma includes the measurement of eye pressure, ophthalmologists now know that eye pressure taken during an office visit is not an accurate indicator of the disease. John H.K. Liu, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Glaucoma Molecular Pharmacology Laboratory at the Shiley Eye Center, has proposed, “Perhaps, the nighttime eye pressure, not the office eye pressure, is a better indicator for evaluating the risk for glaucoma."

This innovative idea is derived from his research at both UCSD and earlier as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. The research, now in its seventh year, studies the nighttime eye pressure in glaucoma patients and determines which anti-glaucoma eye drops work best at night as well as during the day. The time influence of the 24-hour day is being systematically investigated under highly controlled laboratory conditions. Contrary to previous ideas, Dr. Liu is able to demonstrate that more than ninety percent of the ‘healthy’ eyes register their highest pressure at night. In glaucoma patients, eye pressure is found to be always higher than the normal level at night and during the day.