The Study
Aerobic exercise reduces intraocular pressure and expands Schlemm’s canal dimensions in healthy and primary open-angle glaucoma eyes
This study saw that when people ran on a treadmill for 30 minutes, their eye pressure went down and a tiny channel in their eye got a little bigger. But it didn’t prove that running caused those changes—maybe something else changed at the same time. It just shows a pattern that happened once.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at whether a 30-minute treadmill workout affects pressure inside the eye and a tiny drainage channel called Schlemm’s canal.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 544 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Even though the channel didn’t expand as much in glaucoma eyes, their pressure dropped more — meaning exercise might help glaucoma patients more than healthy ones, even if they’re already on eye drops.
- 2After walking or running for 30 minutes, eye pressure dropped by 2.1 mmHg in people with glaucoma and 1.0 mmHg in healthy people.
- 3The drainage channel got 23% bigger in both groups.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology
Year
2020
Authors
Ye Yuan, Timothy P. H. Lin, K. Gao, R. Zhou, N. Radke, Dennis S. C. Lam, Xiulan Zhang
Related Content
Claims (6)
People who regularly do aerobic exercise have lower rates of glaucoma, which is linked to better blood flow to the optic nerve and slightly lower eye pressure.
A 30-minute session of moderate aerobic exercise increases the size of Schlemm’s canal by 23% in cross-sectional area and 15% in diameter in both healthy eyes and eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma.
One 30-minute session of moderate aerobic exercise, like treadmill running, reduces intraocular pressure by about 2.1 mmHg in people with primary open-angle glaucoma and by 1.0 mmHg in healthy people.
People with primary open-angle glaucoma have a larger drop in eye pressure after aerobic exercise than people without the condition, even though their eye drainage channels are naturally smaller.
In people with primary open-angle glaucoma, aerobic exercise lowers eye pressure and widens Schlemm’s canal, regardless of whether they are using eye drops to reduce pressure.
When people exercise, the drainage channel in the eye sometimes widens, but this widening does not reliably match how much the eye pressure drops, regardless of whether they have glaucoma or not.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.