This Article is From Jan 02, 2018

A Cup of Hot Tea Daily Could Bring Down Risk of Glaucoma

Glaucoma affects 57.5 million people around the world currently, and is expected to increase to 65.5 million by 2020.

A Cup of Hot Tea Daily Could Bring Down Risk of Glaucoma
Tea lovers here's good news! According to a latest study, drinking a cup of tea once a day may stave off the risk of developing glaucoma. Glaucoma is a serious eye condition which is triggered by excess fluid pressure build-up inside the eye, leading to the damage of optic nerve. Glaucoma affects 57.5 million people around the world currently, and is expected to increase to 65.5 million by 2020. If left untreated, Glaucoma can also cause permanent blindness. 

The study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, also said that drinking decaffeinated and caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated tea, iced tea and soft drinks doesn't seem to make any difference to glaucoma risk. 
Several studies in the past has suggested that caffeine may have a positive effect  intralocular pressure( inside the eye), but no study has done a comparative study of all these caffeinated drinks or decaffeinated drinks on glaucoma risk. 

The researchers looked at data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the US. The nationally representative annual survey of several US adults and children is based on interviews, physical examinations, and blood samples of all the participants. 
This year, they also included eye tests for glaucoma. Among the 1678 participants who had full eye test results, including photos, 84 (5%) adults had developed the condition.
Participants were asked how often and how much they had drunk of caffeinated and decaffeinated drinks, including soft drinks and iced tea in the preceding year. The answers retrieved in the questionnaire, were then studied in detail. The findings revealed that compared with those who didn't drink hot tea every day, those who did, had a lower glaucoma risk.


The findings went on to state that hot tea-drinkers were 74 per cent less likely to have glaucoma, after taking account of potentially influential factors, such as diabetes and smoking. However the same tendency wasn't exhibited by the coffee drinkers, decaffeinated tea, iced tea or soft drinks.
The antioxidants present in tea and anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective chemicals, which have been associated with a lowered risk of serious conditions, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, in the past. These protective elements could be showing its effect on development of glaucoma too. 


Since the study is observational, no firm associations can be drawn about cause and effect. The study group was relatively small, and the information on when glaucoma had been diagnosed was also unavailable.
Other factors like cup size, tea type, or the length of brewing time were also not taken into account in the questionnaire. 

Here are some other benefits of tea that would make you even happier about your daily cuppa. 

-Tea contains many health boosting antioxidants. 
-Tea may help boost weight-loss
-Tea can help boost immune system
-Tea can also help protect bones.
-Tea may help soothe digestion.



 
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