Connection between Obesity and Risk for Glaucoma

Research conducted at Harvard with the participation of around 120 000 patients showed that obese women have a lower risk for glaucoma…

Scientists point out that this phenomenon is observed only for the type of glaucoma that is characterized by normal eye pressure, and that an increase in body weight won’t help people with glaucoma.

So far, it was believed that obese people, because of the increased risk for diabetes, are generally more likely for this degenerative disease of the eye, accordfing to journal Ophthalmology.
According to data collected in the U.S., about 4% of people over 40 years suffer from glaucoma and optic nerve damage.
New findings showed that each increase in female patients’ body weight for about 3 pounds led to 6% reduction in risk for glaucoma, particularly those that had too much weight at a younger age.

Considering that these results are reported only for women, researchers believe that they can be at least partially explained by the influence of estrogen on the function of the optic nerve.

Taken from: www.pliva-zdravlje.hr