Drinking coffee linked to pseudoexfoliation glaucoma risk
Study findings show that heavy caffeinated coffee consumption is associated with an increased risk of developing pseudoexfoliation glaucoma among people aged 40 years or older.
Researchers found that men and women who drank three or more cups of coffee per day were at a 66% higher risk of developing pseudoexfoliation glaucoma, or suspected pseudoexfoliation glaucoma than their non-coffee drinking counterparts.
However, no association was found between consumption of other caffeinated products, such as fizzy drinks, tea, chocolate, or decaffeinated coffee, and risk of developing the syndrome.
The findings arise from a meta-analysis of two cohorts: 78,977 women from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and 41,202 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS). All participants were at least 40 years of age, did not have glaucoma, and underwent eye examinations from 1980 (NHS) or 1986 (HPFS) to 2008.
Daily consumption of caffeine-containing drinks was assessed using validated follow-up questionnaires. Using this information, Jae Kang (Channing Laboratory in Boston, Massachusetts, USA) and colleagues examined the association between caffeinated drink consumption and incident cases of pseudoexfoliation glaucoma, or suspected glaucoma.
Writing in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, the researchers report a positive association between heavier coffee consumption and risk of pseudoexfoliation glaucoma, or glaucoma suspect. The results also showed that women with a family history of glaucoma were at an increased risk.
The researchers didn't find associations with consumption of other caffeinated products, such as soda, tea, chocolate or decaffeinated coffee.
