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An experimental cataract lens also can help treat a person's glaucoma, new clinical trial results show. The artificial lenses carry small pads of a widely used glaucoma drug called bimatoprost, which is released gradually into the eye, researchers reported at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

After a year, patients who got the experimental lenses had about the same eye pressure as those who received a standard cataract lens and took twice-daily eyedrops for their glaucoma, researchers found.

Nearly all of the patients who received the drug-releasing lens did not need to take any other medications for their glaucoma, researchers added.

"Imagine being able to treat two of the most common eye diseases, cataract and glaucoma, in one sitting," researcher Dr. Jeffrey Kammer, an ophthalmologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, said in a news release. "There is simply nothing like it in development."

Glaucoma robs people of sight as fluid pressure inside the eye increases, damaging the optic nerve. Lowering that pressure is the only proven way to slow the disease, with people prescribed daily eyedrops as a first measure.

But it's tough to keep up with drops taken once or twice a day, researchers said. "Daily eyedrops can be challenging to administer consistently," Kammer said.

However, many aging people also suffer from cataracts, which involve the clouding of the eye's natural lens.

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