As we finish out Glaucoma Awareness Month, there is positive news on an important, effective lifestyle step we can take to help reduce the risk of developing this sight-stealing disease.

According to a recently published scientific paper, higher levels of physical exercise appear to have a long-term beneficial impact on low ocular perfusion pressure (OPP), an important risk factor for glaucoma.

Published in the Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science journal* (Physical Activity and Ocular Perfusion Pressure: The EPIC-Norfolk Eye Study), this study examined the relationship between physical activity and current OPP in 5,650 men and women aged 48 to 90 in the U.K.

The results showed that moderate physical exercise is associated with a 25% reduced risk of low OPP. “It appears that OPP is largely determined by cardiovascular fitness,” said author Paul J. Foster, MD PhD, FRCS(Ed), of the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology. “We cannot comment on the cause, but there is certainly an association between a sedentary lifestyle and factors which increase glaucoma risk.”

There have previously been a large number of studies that have examined the effect of physical activity on intraocular pressure (IOP) and on blood pressure—the two components of OPP—but this is the first time the relationship between physical activity and OPP has been investigated, according to the authors.

“We believe our study points toward a new way of reducing glaucoma risk, through maintaining an active lifestyle. This is a way that people can participate in altering their risk of glaucoma and many other serious health problems,” said Foster.

*Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, October 2011 Dr. Paul J. Foster of the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology