Hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidaemia are among the most important cardiovascular risk factors. In addition, there is an association with the development and progression of glaucoma. During the last years, there has been an intense discussion concerning optimal treatment goals for these risk factors. Recently, the American Heart Association has defined a blood pressure greater than 130/80 mmHg as hypertension and the European guidelines will follow this definition. These lower blood pressure limits increase the risk for a too strict blood pressure treatment with night values, which might be too low for glaucoma patients. In contrast, the treatment goals for LDL cholesterol should be as low as possible ("the lower the better"). There is a more differentiated picture concerning treatment goals for diabetes mellitus. For elderly patients, which is the main group of the glaucoma patients, a less intense blood sugar reduction is currently recommended with an HbA1cvalue of above 7%. The present paper summarizes the significance of cardiovascular risk factors and the respective treatment goals for the therapy of patients with glaucoma.
