Dietary nitrate associated with decreased risk for primary open-angle glaucoma

Issue: March 10, 2016

Greater dietary nitrate intake correlated with a lower risk for development of primary open-angle glaucoma in adults in one large prospective study.

A total of 1,483 patients (1,000 women and 483 men) aged 40 years and older with definite or probable primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) were identified from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study to evaluate the therapeutic effects of nitric oxide in relation to outflow facility and retinal blood flow autoregulation. Both study pools incorporated a validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ) that was administered every 2 to 4 years over 25 years. The SFFQs delineated dietary intake of exogenous sources of nitrate, particularly green leafy vegetables. The researchers found that patients who consumed approximately 240 mg per day of dietary nitrate had 21% lower risk for development of POAG compared with those who consumed 80 mg daily. The risk was reduced even further, 44%, for development of POAG with early paracentral visual field loss.

“These data represent findings from the first population-based observational study; thus, the association between dietary nitrate consumption and POAG should be interpreted cautiously and confirmed,” the researchers wrote. –by Kate Sherrer

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Source:

Kang JH, et al. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2015;doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2015.5601.