Lumigan
Meaning of Lumigan: An eye drop that lowers pressure inside the eye by opening a secondary drainage route, with visible effects on lashes and iris.
Definition of Lumigan
Lumigan is a brand of bimatoprost eye drops, used to lower raised pressure inside the eye in open-angle glaucoma and in ocular hypertension. Bimatoprost resembles a prostaglandin, one of the body's own signaling molecules, and it increases the rate at which fluid drains out of the eye. Reducing the pressure lowers the risk of further damage to the optic nerve.
What does it do to the pressure in the eye?
The front of the eye is kept firm by a clear fluid called aqueous humor. A ring of tissue behind the iris makes it continuously, and it leaves through two routes: a mesh of channels at the angle where iris meets cornea, and a slower secondary path through the wall of the eye. Pressure rises when production outpaces drainage. Bimatoprost works on the secondary route, relaxing the tissue there so more fluid escapes, and the pressure settles over the following weeks.
What is glaucoma really?
It is often described as a build-up of fluid, which is misleading. Glaucoma is progressive damage to the optic nerve, the cable carrying vision from the eye to the brain, with a matching loss of side vision that creeps inward. Raised pressure is the main risk factor and the only one that treatment can change, but the two are not the same thing.
| Ocular hypertension | Glaucoma | |
|---|---|---|
| Eye pressure | Above the usual range | Often raised, sometimes normal |
| Optic nerve | Healthy | Showing damage |
| Visual field | Full | Losing ground, starting at the edges |
What effects are recognized?
Prostaglandin analogs produce a distinctive set of changes. Eyelashes grow longer, thicker and darker, an effect strong enough that the same molecule is marketed separately for that purpose. The colored iris can darken permanently, most noticeably in eyes that started mixed in color. Skin on the eyelid may darken, and the fat pad behind the eye can shrink so the eye appears more sunken. Redness and a gritty feeling are common early on and often ease. Because damage from glaucoma is silent until vision is already lost, treatment continues even though nothing feels wrong.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The medication list included Lumigan for open-angle glaucoma in both eyes.
Good to know
Raised eye pressure is a risk factor rather than the disease itself, and optic nerve damage from glaucoma can progress even when the measured pressure sits within the usual range.