Learn about Flammer’s Syndrome with Josef Flammer, MD and patient Hillary Golden
In 2020, Hillary Golden went to see an optometrist to treat a stye. She was completely surprised when the doctor was more concerned about her optic nerve. She was diagnosed with normal tension glaucoma (NTG). Hillary had lost a good amount of visual field already and was immediately referred to a glaucoma specialist. While researching NTG, she kept coming across something called Flammer Syndrome. She fit the patient profile, so she read study after study to learn more. This led her to reach out to Dr. Josef Flammer, whom the syndrome was monikered after, to gather more information. She sent an email, not expecting a reply, and was delighted when she heard back from Dr. Flammer himself.
Hillary speaks publicly about her diagnosis, how glaucoma affects patients in everyday life, and how she manages her disease. Her career has included sales and training of medical devices, imaging equipment, and computer guided surgical navigation. She is currently a clinical consultant in the glaucoma space.
Dr. Josef Flammer is a Swiss ophthalmologist with a specialty in glaucoma. He is an emeritus director of the Eye Clinic at Basel University Hospital. Dr. Flammer was one of the first researchers to demonstrate systemic side effects of locally administered beta-blockers (i.e. eye drops) in ophthalmology. He and his collaborators found that intraocular pressure variation is as important for the development of glaucoma as a constantly elevated intraocular pressure – long considered the main, if not the only, cause of glaucoma. In numerous research projects, he demonstrated that glaucoma could be caused by a dysregulation of ocular blood flow, even at normal levels of intraocular pressure. Flammer discovered that vasospasms in the eye are a manifestation of a general vasospastic syndrome. Later, he noted that such spasms are only the tip of the iceberg and an indication of a much more generalized vascular dysregulation in the human body, increasing the risk of eye disease, particularly of normal tension glaucoma. Dr. Flammer noted that people with primary vascular dysregulation have other symptoms and signs, leading to the establishment of the term Flammer Syndrome. Among many other discoveries, he also demonstrated the relationship between eye disease and heart disease.At the Basel Eye Clinic, Dr. Flammer initiated one of the most renowned annual conferences for ophthalmologists in Europe, the Basel Ophthalmo Meeting. In addition to hundreds of original papers, he is the author of “Glaucoma,” a book intended for the general public which has so far been published in 22 languages. It is considered the world’s most widely used non-fiction book on this ocular disease.