Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Aug 20, 2026 55 minutes ago
Scientists examining the relationship between nearsightedness and glaucoma have highlighted growing evidence that changes in blood circulation around the optic nerve could provide important clues about how the two eye conditions interact.
Scientists are uncovering how blood-flow changes around the optic nerve may provide important clues about
the relationship between myopia and glaucoma
Myopia, commonly called nearsightedness, is becoming increasingly common worldwide. It is more than simply difficulty seeing distant objects clearly. As myopia becomes more severe, the eyeball can lengthen, stretching and reshaping delicate tissues at the back of the eye.
Glaucoma, meanwhile, damages the optic nerve and can gradually cause irreversible vision loss. Myopia is already recognized as a risk factor for open-angle glaucoma, with the risk generally increasing as myopia becomes more severe.
Blood Flow Changes Could Reveal Eye Damage
The review found that glaucoma is frequently associated with reduced blood-flow-related measurements around the optic nerve and surrounding retina.
Modern imaging has revealed reduced density in tiny vessels called radial peripapillary capillaries. Researchers have also identified localized areas of greatly reduced blood-flow signals in deeper tissues surrounding the optic nerve.
Importantly, these vascular abnormalities can appear in the same regions as thinning nerve fibers and visual-field damage. Some previous studies included in the review found that reduced optic nerve head blood flow was detectable even during very early glaucoma and could be associated with later visual-field deterioration.
However, scientists still cannot determine whether reduced blood flow causes nerve damage, results from damaged nerve tissue needing less circulation, or develops alongside glaucoma through a shared disease process.
Myopia Makes the Picture More Complicated
Myopia itself can dramatically change structures surrounding the optic nerve. As the eye lengthens, the optic disc may tilt, tissues around it can stretch, and the choroid—the blood-rich tissue beneath the retina—can become thinner.
These changes can also alter the appearance and position of small blood vessels.
As this Thailand
Medical News report explains, one particularly important finding was that localized microvascular signal defects were reported in approximately 20% of otherwise healthy myopic eyes without glaucoma. Doctors therefore cannot automatically assume that every abnormal vascular signal detected in a myopic eye represents glaucoma.
Central Vision Deserves Attention
The review also highlights possible connections between localized blood-flow abnormalities and damage affecting central vision. Certain areas of the optic nerve carry fibers serving the macular and central portions of the visual field.
In myopic eyes with glaucoma, structural abnormalities, reduced circulation signals, and
central visual-field defects can occur in corresponding regions. This suggests targeted central visual-field testing may provide valuable information alongside conventional glaucoma examinations.
Institutions Behind the Research
The review involved Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and affiliated advanced ophthalmic research divisions in Japan, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in the United States, and Keio University School of Medicine in Japan.
Conclusions
The findings suggest that myopia-related structural changes and glaucoma-associated blood-flow abnormalities can overlap around the optic nerve, making diagnosis and monitoring more complicated. Although advanced blood-flow imaging could eventually improve individualized assessment, researchers emphasize that the evidence does not yet prove reduced circulation causes glaucoma progression, and lowering eye pressure remains the best-established treatment approach.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed Journal of Clinical Medicine.
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/15/16/6291
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/glaucoma-news
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/ophthalmology-(eye-diseases)
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