Nuclear cataract as a cause of senile glaucoma.

When radial cortical opacities occurred in the lenses of glaucomatous eyes, ocular hypertension soon became normal. Glaucoma operations were not performed on patients over 50 years of age, and medical control or simple lens extraction was adopted. In 86% of the lenses extracted from glaucomatous eyes no medication was necessary to keep normal ocular tension for two years postoperatively. The water content of extracted lens from glaucomatous eyes was always in the lower half compared to water content of nonglaucomatous cataractous lenses. Thus the absence of radial cortical opacities is a cause of senile glaucoma. Three laws of aging in the human body and eye are advocated and hypothesized. Simple glaucoma is caused by an ischemia of Schlemm's canal through bending of the scleral branch of anterior ciliary artery caused by continuous zonular traction. From the cation material assortment of extracted dried lenses, it was found that human senile cataracts including glaucomatous nuclear cataracts had normal membranes except in the final stage. Glaucomatous diffuse cortical opacities also had normal membrane, contrary to the damaged membrane in the swollen lens in the final stage of cortical senile cataract.