Evidence from a few studies has shown that aerobic exercise can reduce eye pressure and can also have a positive impact on other glaucoma risk factors including diabetes and high blood pressure!
What does this all mean?
Glaucoma is a disease where the optic nerve gets damaged over time. One of the factors that cause this damager is high eye pressure!
Professor Harry A. Quigley, who is also the director of glaucoma services at Wilmer Eye Institute at John Hopkins University, believes aerobic exercise lowers intraocular pressure (IOP, in other words eye pressure), which can then protect our retinal ganglion cells. Short-term studies show it may improve blood flow to the retina and optic nerve as well.
Guess what? You don’t have to be exercising rigorously to achieve a neuroprotective effect. Eye pressure can be lowered by exercise that raises the pulse just 20-25% – that could be a brisk 20 minute walk for four times a week.
Regular exercise may be a useful addition to the prevention of visual loss from glaucoma, but some rare forms of glaucoma (such as closed-angle) are not responsive to the effects of exercise.
While exercise is beneficial in most cases but it cannot replace glaucoma medications or visits to your eye doctor.
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