When you think of overweight, you think of unhealthy. However, it also seems to be good for something. Researchers at Harvard University discovered that the extra pounds protect some women against a form of the eye disease glaucoma.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a disease that affects the optic nerve † Usually this is due to too high eye pressure and you can lower it with eye drops. However, this treatment is of no benefit in people with normal pressure glaucoma. So dangerous. But now there seems to be a solution.
The scientists from the American University Harvard did research into primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). This is the most common form of the eye condition glaucoma † They found that women are protected from being overweight found to be against normal pressure glaucoma.
The study screened a database of 78,777 women and 41,352 men, all white and European. In men, no link was made between weight and glaucoma , but in women, each extra point on the body mass index (BMI) meant a six percent lower risk of normal pressure glaucoma.
Hormonal signals
How can this be? The adipose tissue may give hormonal signals to the retina that help prevent damage to the optic nerve. A favorable side effect of a few extra pounds. However, the researchers would like to emphasize that these findings should not be seized to go for a run. According to them, being overweight still does more harm than good for a person's health.
Want to know more? The results appear in the August issue of Ophthalmology .
