Forskning

February 13, 2018

The role of diet in glaucoma: a review of the current evidence

M Adi et al, 2018. The role of diet in glaucoma: a review of the current evidence, Opthal Ther, published online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT
Intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction by medications, laser, or surgery remains the mainstay of treatment in glaucoma. However, the role of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in glaucoma has received great interest from both patients and ophthalmologists. Previous evidence suggests that diet, a major domain of CAM, can influence an individual’s IOP level. Furthermore, certain dietary components have been linked to the incidence and progression of glaucoma. In this review, we aim to provide a summary of the current evidence regarding the role of obesity, certain dietary components, and dietary supplements in glaucoma.

For your convenience the paragraph below is relevant to coffee:

Coffee
Coffee is a rich source of caffeine, a biologically active compound that exerts numerous physiological effects on the human body. A transient elevation in IOP has been noted following caffeine ingestion in patients with different types of glaucoma [52–54] and, to a lesser extent, in healthy individuals [17, 55]. Furthermore, the Blue Mountains Eye Study [56] found a higher mean IOP among POAG patients that reported regular caffeine consumption. Caffeine acts as a phosphodiesterase inhibitor which leads to an increase in intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate dehydrogenase, thereby stimulating aqueous humor production [57, 58]. Although elevated IOP is a well-established risk factor in POAG, studies looking into the connection between caffeine consumption and the incidence of POAG did not establish any association [59, 60]. However, Pasquale et al. [61] reported a positive association between caffeine consumption and the likelihood of developing pseudoexfoliative glaucoma in a large cohort of patients. Such association is assumed to be secondary to a caffeine-induced elevation in homocysteine levels [62, 63], which is thought to be a trigger stimulating the formation of basement membrane material [64].