Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world. According to the South African Glaucoma Society, glaucoma is caused by increased pressure in the eye causing damage to the optic nerves.
“While we encourage our patients to live active and healthy lifestyles, including physical exercise, certain types of activities, including push-ups and lifting heavy weights, should be avoided by glaucoma patients due to the risk of increasing and possibly damaging the optic nerve,” senior study author and the Shelley and Steven Einhorn distinguished chair and director of glaucoma research at the hospital Robert Ritch MD, said.
“This new study will help clinicians advise their patients on the potential risk associated with various yoga positions and other exercises that involve inverted poses.”
According to the study, previous research only tested the adverse effects of the headstand position, which showed a marked two-fold rise in pressure inside the eye.
In the new study, researchers asked healthy patients who had no eye diseases and glaucoma patients to perform a series of yoga positions – including downward-facing dog, standing forward bend, plow and legs up the wall – and measure the pressure in their eyes at different times.
Both normal and glaucoma study participants showed a rise in eye pressure in all four yoga positions, with the greatest increase of pressure occurring during downward-facing dog.
