Indirect Benefits of Exercise Preventing Eye Disease

Exercise and risk taking behaviour

Exercise will help to prevent eye problems in less obvious ways. Those of us who do not exercise are more likely to be involved in risk taking behaviour (below). This is so even in adults .

Risk taking behaviour reduced by exercise particularly amongst adolescents, e.g. this might include driving without a seatbelt, and risking a serious perforating eye injury; alternatively it may be having sex without a condom, and risking HIV and the retinal infections that may follow .

Indirect effects of alcohol

Perhaps more importantly risk taking behaviour includes binge drinking, which in turn leads to assaults. 24 years ago in the UK a number of people suffered terrible eye injuries by not wearing a seatbelt. After legislation, this number has reduced dramatically.

But at the same time there has been a dramatic increase in the number of serious eye injuries as a consequence of binge drinking ...yet as above regular exercise reduces binge drinking behaviour (below). Visit any inner-city eye casualty on many Friday and Saturday nights...such injuries occur far too regularly (below, Ref). The eye injury is often suffered by an innocent passer-by.

Exercise, how much do we need, and how much does it help?

How much exercise do we need?

NHS Direct recommends 30 minutes a day. This is probably enough if you have a reasonably active job, or walk a little during the day. If you drive to work, and park immediately outside your office, then 30 minutes will not be enough. (NHS Direct).

It may be helpful to wear a pedometer to see how much you are walking: certainly some studies show that many of us are not walking enough (Ref).

Most forms of exercise will be just as helpful. Swimming, cycling, gardening, golf, most sports, even cleaning the house will help.

How much does lack of exercise contribute overall?

At present it is difficult to gauge exactly how much exercise contributes, but here are some figures.

• Exercise lowers the eye pressure 1mmHg. A 1mmHg reducion in pressure will cause a 10% reduction in loss of visual field (see)...thus exercise would be expected to result in a 10% reduction in the progression of glaucoma.



• Together with avoiding obesity, exercise will help to prevent at least 50% of type 2 diabetes (2005) (Walking alone may prevent 50% of type 2 diabetes, see). By 2015, when we will all be much heavier, the figure will be greater still.



• Exercise has similar effects on the cardiovascular system...exercise such as walking reduced the risk nearly 50% . We know that diseases such as macular degeneration are caused in part by the same factors that cause heart disease, so it is likely exercise may help to reduce these a little. One of the ways exercise may help is by improving our blood fat levels. It lowers triglycerides, which are harmful, and increases HDL, which prevent disease.



• Exercise makes us less likely to participate in risk taking behaviour, which can damage our own health, or influence our behaviour so others may be affected by our actions.

Summary

Although exact figures are unknown, lack of exercise contributes significantly to several eye conditions affecting the elderly, with a slightly lower contribution for middle age patients.