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Hot tea, not coffee, associated with reduced risk for glaucoma
Glaucoma was less common in daily drinkers of hot tea than in those who did not drink hot tea daily, according to a study.
A retrospective cross-sectional study of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data looked at food frequency questionnaires of 1,678 survey respondents to determine the prevalence of glaucoma in those who consumed various caffeinated and noncaffeinated beverages. Participants of the 2005-2006 NHANES were chosen for this study because they had undergone Humphrey perimetry testing and optic disc photographs.
Whereas no association was made between consumption of coffee, iced tea, decaffeinated tea or soft drinks, there was a 74% decreased chance of having glaucoma in participants who drank hot tea daily.
“In contrast to the protective association between hot tea and glaucoma, our study found no positive or negative association between coffee consumption and glaucomatous optic neuropathy,” the authors said.
The study was limited by its observational cross-sectional design and by the question parameters, which did not address tea types or overlapping beverage consumption, for example. – by Patricia Nale, ELS
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
Perspective
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Glaucoma care is rapidly changing and with that we are seeing a shift in our philosophies on how to treat our patients. In particular, the focus is to not only reduce IOP but also maximize quality-of-life (QOL). We want the treatments we offer to control the disease and do it with the least amount of disturbance to our patients' lives. But how much is too much? I have patients ask me constantly, "What else can I be doing in my life to help?" There have been prior discussions about the role of caffeine in elevating IOP, and we all know that it can be found in many different ways, including tea, coffee and soda. This leaves the practitioner to ask, "Should I be advising my patients to stop consuming caffeine?" But at what point is our recommendation to stop caffeinated drink actually causing a decrease in QOL? The importance of this study by Wu and colleagues is what it did not show: no association between caffeinated drinks and glaucoma risk. This does not mean we should tell our patients to now drink in excess, but in moderation, some consumption of these drinks is OK. I think this will bring ease to our patients to have them continue an activity that gives them joy (actually, improves their QOL). Sometimes as practitioners, we lose perspective of what is most important to our work because we perseverate on IOP. Although IOP control is important, our most critical task is to maximize Mrs. Smith's QOL.