Yoga and Glaucoma (Say that 5 times fast)

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness because of damage to the optic nerve when fluid pressure increases in the eye. Doctors advise patients to live healthy and active lifestyles, but there are certain activities that should be avoided by glaucoma patients like pushups and lifting heavy weights due to elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). A new study has shown the potential risk associated with various yoga positions and exercises that involve inverted poses. In this research, both normal and glaucoma patients did four yoga positions. The greatest increase in pressure was found with the downward facing dog position where you place both feet and hands on the floor while looking at the ground. “The measurements were taken after the participants retuned to a seated position and again after waiting ten minutes, the pressure in most cases remained slightly elevated from the baseline.” In previous studies, participants in the headstand position showed almost two-fold rise in IOP. It is now advised to inform and educate glaucoma patients about the risks of physical exercises like yoga, so progression of glaucoma doesn’t get worse. Many times we consider a point or two of pressure increase to be a reason to prescribe additional eye drops or to recommend a glaucoma surgery. When patients go to yoga, patients should tell their instructors their disease to modify their yoga practice.

Mount Sinai Health System. (2016, January 7). Certain yoga positions may impact eye pressure in glaucoma patients. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 20, 2016 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160107105234.htm

Feeling Blue?

We all know how reliant we’ve become on our technology. We’re addicted to our cell phones, we can’t make a living without our computers, and we all want to have the most modern and up-to-date equipment. But how does this affect our health?

When I was busy playing Oregon Trail sometime in the 5th grade on my first computer, I never thought that something as seemingly harmless as the light from the screen could have such a ripple effect on our overall health. And yet according to the American Optometric Association it can not only affect our vision, but also our overall systemic health.

We spend increasingly more time glued to some sort of blue light producing technology. In fact, more than half of us in the modern world are spending more than 5 hours a day staring at a screen. With that comes an increase in eye strain. It also allows more of the free radicals associated with retinal injury to enter the eye (think about what tanning beds do to the skin). This can age our eye more quickly and may account for many of the age-related vision problems in younger patient groups. Blue light has also been associated with issues sleeping, from decreased sleep to less affective rest while sleeping. And while blue light might not have direct systemic influence, the dysfunctional sleep cycle can be linked to other issues, such as diabetes and some forms of cancer.

As health care professionals, it is important for us to be aware of the things that can not only affect the health of our patient’s eyes, but also their health overall. With that, it is important for us to do what we can to alleviate the issues as necessary, such as provide the various lenses and filters available to filter out blue light. The iPhone will even allow you set times where it will reduce the amount of blue light coming from the screen before you go to bed!

Blog contribution by Amy Pham, Optometry Intern, College of Optometry, Western University of Health Sciences.