Certain yoga positions may impact eye pressure in glaucoma patients

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/tmsh-cyp010716.php

Public Release: 7-Jan-2016
Certain yoga positions may impact eye pressure in glaucoma patients
New study highlights importance of patient education during glaucoma awareness month
The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Glaucoma patients may experience increased eye pressure as the result of performing several different head-down positions while practicing yoga, according to a new study published by researchers at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE) in the journal PLOS ONE.

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the United States and can dramatically affect the quality of life for patients with moderate to severe visual loss. Damage to the optic nerve occurs in glaucoma patients when fluid pressure inside the eye rises. Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is the most common known risk factor for glaucomatous damage and, at the current time, the only modifiable one for which treatment has a proven effect on preventing or slowing the progression of the disease.

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