Drinking tea every day, can you prevent glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a condition characterized by damage to the nerves behind the eyeball. This condition can cause partial or total loss of vision. The eye nerve damage caused by glaucoma is permanent or irreversible, and can only be inhibited the damage to the part of the nerve that has not been damaged. That is why it is so important to take glaucoma prevention. Research shows that drinking tea every day is claimed to reduce the risk of causing blindness in the second largest in the world, is it true? Check out the reviews below.

Results of research on tea and glaucoma

This research was published in the British Journal Ophthalmology in 2017, involving 84 adult respondents who were subjected to in-depth examinations, ranging from physical examinations, blood checks, and interviews.

Each respondent was asked about the habit of drinking coffee, hot tea, decaffeinated tea, soft drinks, and other sweet drinks that have been drunk in the past 12 months.

Physical examination, particularly eye and blood sampling, was seen in this study to provide a picture of overall health.

Research found that people who consumed hot tea daily had a 74 percent lower risk of glaucoma compared to those who did not drink tea regularly.

This study has results that contradict previous findings, which show that consumption of coffee, which contains caffeine as well as tea, is associated with an increased risk of developing glaucoma due to increased eye pressure. However, of course the caffeine content in tea and coffee is different. Not to mention that both of them have different nutritional content.

Why drinking tea every day can affect eye health?

Reporting from the Live Science page, dr. Anne Coleman, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) said that from the study, it is suspected that drinking tea regularly can help prevent glaucoma. Because, basically, tea contains phytochemicals and flavonoids. These compounds have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that can protect the eyes and nerves around the eyes.

However, there are definitely other contributing factors, according to Coleman, that caused people who drank tea every day in the study to have a lower risk of glaucoma.

Other health behaviors such as exercising, alcohol consumption may be able to influence. Further research is needed to look at other broader conditions, and also to see what types of tea are consumed and how they are made.

What other glaucoma prevention steps can be taken?

Although the above findings suggest an association between daily tea drinking habits and glaucoma risk, the study did not show a causal link between tea and glaucoma. This means that this study has not been able to prove that drinking tea is able to prevent glaucoma. However, there is indeed a relationship between the two that is not yet known in depth.

Therefore, apart from adding to the habit of consuming tea regularly, you must also take other precautions:

1. Check the condition of your eyes even if you don't feel any symptoms regularly

Sometimes high eye pressure causes no symptoms and makes people feel fine. So, you don't realize that your condition has damaged the eye nerves and is in a condition of glaucoma. According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation, the best prevention of glaucoma is to perform eye tests or regular controls.

• Before you turn 40, every 2-4 years have your eyes checked as a whole.
• Age 40-54 years, have your eyes checked every 1-3 years.
• Age 55 years and over, have your eyes checked at least 1-2 years.

For people who have diabetes mellitus, and have family members who have glaucoma, the risk of experiencing glaucoma is higher.

2. Regular exercise

Regular exercise will provide overall health benefits, and studies have shown that moderate exercise such as walking or jogging 3 or more times a week has a reduced effect on eye pressure.