The ocular system, because of its rich blood supply and relatively small mass, may be particularly susceptible to side effects from systemically administered medications, both prescription and non-prescription (over-the-counter or OTC). As an increasing number of individuals are taking more and more medications, this susceptibility becomes a greater issue. In addition, there are increasing numbers of topical medications (again both prescription and OTC) used in the treatment of a variety of eye disorders—ranging from common, relatively innocuous conditions like dry eye and ocular allergy to serious and potentially vision-threatening diseases like glaucoma, infectious keratitis, uveitis, and macular degeneration—that can produce complications in the eye, as well as in the rest of the body.
There are thousands of drugs and drug classes with the potential to impact both quantity and quality of vision, so questioning patients about any medications in current, recent, or past use is an important component of history-taking in Healthy Sight Counseling. This section focuses on the effects that medications may have on Healthy Sight in the future—that is, over the course of months or years of use and/or occurring months and years after use.
This is not to ignore or downplay some of the disturbing immediate effects certain topical and systemic medications may have on both quantity and quality of vision in Healthy Sight in the short-term.
More information on the impact of medications on Healthy Sight in the present can be found here: Healthy Sight Now: Medications
More information on Healthy Sight Counseling for patients taking medications that may affect their sight can be found here
Click here to search the Medications and Ocular Side Effects Database