High caffeine consumption may be linked to increased glaucoma risk

Consuming large amounts of daily caffeine may increase glaucoma risk for those with a genetic predisposition to higher eye pressure, finds a new study involving a UCL researcher. The international, multi-centre study, led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, US, is the first to demonstrate a link between diet and genes in glaucoma. The results published in Ophthalmology  may suggest patients with a strong family history of glaucoma should cut down on caffeine intake. The study looks at the impact of caffeine intake on glaucoma, the leading global cause of irreversible blindness, and intraocular pressure (IOP) which is pressure inside the eye. Elevated IOP is an integral risk factor for glaucoma, although other factors do contribute to this condition. With glaucoma, patients typically experience few or no symptoms until the disease progresses and they have vision loss. Lead author Professor Louis R. Pasquale (Mount Sinai Health System, New York) said: "We previously published work suggesting that high caffeine intake increased the risk of the high-tension open angle glaucoma among people with a family history of disease.