Obese Women May Be Less Likely to Develop Glaucoma

Can't claim that they did not see themselves getting porkulent.

Obesity may be associated with higher eye pressure and a decreased risk of open-angle glaucoma in women but not men, according to a report posted online February 14 that will appear in the May issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

Among women, there was a significant association between increased body mass index and intraocular pressure. However, each one-unit increase in body mass index was associated with a 7 percent decreased risk of developing open-angle glaucoma. These associations were not present in men.

Excess fat tissue could place increasing pressure on the eye sockets, thereby increasing pressure within the eye, the authors note. The higher intraocular pressure among obese women should have resulted in an increased risk for glaucoma.

"However, this effect was not observed and thus the multivariate analysis yielded a protective effect of body mass index on open-angle glaucoma incidence in women," they write. "Another explanation might be that high estrogen levels and hormone therapy might be protective to open-angle glaucoma, and obesity seems to be positively related with postmenopausal plasma estrogen levels."

"Obesity appears to be associated with a higher intraocular pressure and a lower risk of developing open-angle glaucoma," the authors conclude. "These associations were only present in women. Other lifestyle-related factors, such as socioeconomic status, smoking and alcohol consumption, were not associated with open-angle glaucoma."

Excuse gone.

See yourselves for what you are.

Lose the weight.