2000 years under pressure – The history of glaucoma research

Since antiquity, glaucoma is known as a rather vaguely defined disease. The Ancient Greeks were the first who described the disorder we call “glaucoma” today already in 400 BC. “Glaykoseis” was first mentioned in Hippocratic writings as a blinding disease occurring most commonly in the elderly. The present talk will describe the very first beginnings of understanding the ophthalmic disease “glaucoma”. The definition of glaucoma has changed drastically since its introduction around the time of Hippocrates. The very first recognition of a disease which might be associated with a rise in intraocular pressure can be found in the Arabian writings, “Book of Hippocratic treatment”, of At‐Tabari (10th century), it took until 1622 to proof this. In Hippocratic writings the term glaucoma was used to describe blindness developing in advancing years associated with a glazed appearance of the pupil. Galen associated the glaucous hue with a large, anterior, or hard crystalline lens. Medieval Arabic authors translated “glaukos” as “zarqaa”, which also commonly described light irides. Ibn Sina (also known as Avicenna) wrote that the zarqaa hue could occur due to anterior prominence of the lens and could occur in an acquired manner. The disease defined by the glaucous pupil in antiquity is ultimately indeterminate. The specific association of elevated intraocular pressure and the eye disease glaucoma was first described by Richard Banister in 1622.