When other risk factors for NAION are present, taking blood pressure medications at night should be avoided as this can exacerbate nighttime hypotension.

[4] These vascular risk factors lead to ischemia (poor blood supply) to a portion of the optic disc.

[6][7][8][9][10][11] Since arteritic AION is similar in presentation to non-arteritic AION, patients over the age of 50 diagnosed with NAION must be evaluated to exclude AAION (symptoms: painful jaw muscle spasms, scalp tenderness, unintentional weight loss, fatigue, myalgias and loss of appetite); NAION patients over the age of 75 should always be tested.

[citation needed] The distinction between AAION and non-arteritic AION was made to highlight the different etiologies of anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

NAION is the most common cause of sudden optic nerve-related vision loss, affecting more than 10,000 Americans every year, often bilaterally.

[12] An exhaustive review article published in March 2009 described the latest information on arteritic and non-arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy, both anterior (A-AION and NA-AION) and posterior (A-PION, NA-PION, and surgical).

However, a recent uncontrolled retrospective large study has shown that if patients are treated with large doses of corticosteroid therapy during the early stages of NAION, in eyes with initial visual acuity of 20/70 or worse, seen within 2 weeks of onset, there was visual acuity improvement in 70% in the treated group compared to 41% in the untreated group (odds ratio of improvement: 3.39; 95% CI:1.62, 7.11; p < 0.001).

Common sense dictates trying to control the cardiovascular risk factors for many reasons, including protection from this happening to the second eye.

However, there is a new current clinical trial for the treatment of NAION in the United States with plans to include sites in India, Israel, Germany and Australia (see NORDICclinicaltrials.com[permanent dead link‍] and https://clinicaltrials.gov/).

[21] In addition to such research, patents have been applied for by Pfizer, The University of Southern California, Otsuka Pharmaceutical and other individual inventors for innovations related to the treatment of anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

In recent years, pentoxifylline has emerged as a potential treatment option for NAION and other diseases involving ocular ischemia.

Pentoxifylline has been shown to reduce erythrocyte rigidity, resulting in decreased blood viscosity and increased flow velocity.

[23] Animal studies have demonstrated that pentoxifylline can inhibit TNF and, in turn, prevent retinal ganglion cell death and axonal degeneration associated with optic neuropathy in a dose-dependent manner.