It’s true: Exercise can make you healthier.
And now new evidence from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health says exercising three or more times per week may cut your risk of vision problems in half.
“While age is usually one of the most strongly associated factors for many eye diseases that cause visual impairment, it is a factor we cannot change,” says Dr. Ronald Klein, M.D., MPH, who helped research the study. “Lifestyle behaviors like smoking, drinking and physical activity, however, can be altered. So, it’s promising, in terms of possible prevention, that these behaviors are associated with developing visual impairment over the long term.”
Published in the health journal Ophthalmology, Klein first came across these findings after looking at data from the Beaver Damn Eye Study, a study which tracked the eye problems of more than 5,000 adults for a total of 20 years. Evaluating what sort of eye problems they developed, he compared it to how these problems increased or decreased based on other lifestyle factors–such as drinking heavily, smoking cigarettes, and working out.
“To help determine ways to decrease the growing burden of visual impairment, researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health examined the relationships between the incidence of visual impairment and three modifiable lifestyle behaviors: smoking, drinking alcohol and staying physically active.,” says the American Academy of Ophthalmology in a written statement. ” The research was conducted as part of the Beaver Dam Eye Study, a long-term population-based cohort study from 1988 to 2013 of nearly 5,000 adults aged 43 to 84 years.”
The Results
First, the bad news: Those who smoked were more likely to have vision problems later in life. That didn’t surprise researchers. What surprised them were that other factors, such as drinking alcohol and exercising regularly, seemed to have a profound impact on reducing vision loss.
“Over 20 years, 11 percent of non-drinkers developed visual impairment while 4.8 percent of occasional drinkers did so,” says the American Academy of Ophthalmology. “After adjustment for age, these figures show a 49 percent decrease in odds of developing visual impairment in those who were occasional drinkers compared to those who consumed no alcohol.”
Better yet came the news for those who exercised–the research also showed there were 58 percent less likely to develop vision problems if they exercised at least 3 times per week. Those who chose to veg out in lieu of exercise were three times more likely to have vision problems, however.
What You Should Do
So the evidence is clear: Exercise at least three times a week and you’ll cut your risk of vision loss in half. And although researchers emphasize this research only looked for associations between these factors, and cannot prove for certain if it can decrease vision loss, the evidence is still compelling–and it wouldn’t hurt to make exercise a habit. Of course, make sure to clear your exercise regimen first with your doctor.
Readers: If you exercise regularly, how good is your vision?
Source:
Press Release: Exercise, Alcohol May Reduce Vision Problems Later in Life – EurekAlert.org
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