Health Centres - Ganfort
How does it work?
Ganfort eye drops contain two active ingredients, bimatoprost and timolol maleate. These are both medicines that decrease raised pressure within the eye. They work in different ways to produce a combined effect greater than either medicine produces on its own.
The pressure within the eyeball is naturally maintained by a continuous flow of liquid called aqueous humour through the eyeball. Aqueous humour is produced by a part of the eye called the ciliary body. It drains out of the eyeball through channels called the trabecular meshwork. If the outflow of aqueous humour is blocked, the aqueous humour builds up inside the eye, increasing the pressure within the eyeball. This pressure needs to be reduced, as otherwise it can damage the optic nerve and impair vision as a result.
Bimatoprost reduces the pressure in the eye by mimicking the action of a naturally-occuring prostaglandin. Prostaglandins are a group of natural body chemicals found in many places in the body. In the eye, they increase the drainage of the aqueous humour out of the eyeball. Bimatoprost is a synthetic compound related to one of the natural prostaglandins. It works by increasing the drainage of aqueous humour out of the eyeball. This decreases the pressure within the eye.
Timolol is a type of medicine called a beta-blocker. These medicines block beta-receptors in various parts of the body. Blocking the beta receptors in the eye reduces the amount of aqueous humour that is produced. Timolol therefore reduces the inflow of aqueous humour into the eyeball and so decreases the pressure within the eye in a different way.
The combination of these two medicines is used to lower the pressure in the eye when one of the medicines does not lower the pressure enough on its own.
The eye drops should be put into the affected eye(s) once a day, preferably in the morning.
What is it used for?
-
Open angle glaucoma
- Raised pressure in the eye (ocular hypertension).
Warning!
- This medicine is not to be taken by mouth.
- When using these eye drops you should take care to not touch the dropper tip to any surface, or to your eye, in order to avoid contaminating the eye drops.
- Ganfort eye drops contain the preservative benzalkonium chloride, which can be absorbed by contact lenses and cause eye irritation. If you wear contact lenses, you should remove them before putting in these eye drops. You should wait at least 15 minutes after using the drops before putting your contact lenses back in.
- It is recommended that immediately after administering the eye drops, you press on the tear duct (at the corner of the eye closest to your nose) for about one minute.
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