Assessment of the Ability to Distinguish Odors in Glaucoma Patients

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. The key feature of glaucoma is damage to the optic nerve head with loss of retinal ganglion cells and local tissue remodeling. Neuronal cell death in glaucoma occurs by apoptotic mechanisms1. Apoptosis of neurons also plays a major role in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. An association between glaucoma and these disorders has been described 2-4. Furthermore, it has been reported that the olfactory function is disturbed in these neurodegenerative diseases5-6. We hypothesize that similar olfactory alterations may occur in glaucoma which is in fact a local neurodegenerative disease.