Glaucoma: Meditating lowers intraocular pressure

Lisa Vogel studied departmental journalism with a focus on medicine and biosciences at Ansbach University and deepened her journalistic knowledge in the master's degree in multimedia information and communication. This was followed by a traineeship in the editorial team. Since September 2020 she has been writing as a freelance journalist for

More posts by Lisa Vogel All content is checked by medical journalists.

When meditating, the intraocular pressure drops. This could prevent glaucoma from progressing - and possibly save those affected from going blind.

During meditation, the body relaxes, the soul recovers, the pressure drops - also in the eye. Patients with glaucoma (glaucoma) could therefore particularly benefit from meditation and breathing exercises. Because the eye disease usually develops because the pressure inside the eye disrupts the blood flow to the eye. In the long run, this damages the nerve cells of the retina and the optic nerve.

Stress leads to high intraocular pressure

German and Indian scientists suspect psychological stress could be one of the main causes of increased intraocular pressure. Targeted relaxation, so their hypothesis, could counteract this.

To check this, researchers from Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and the All India Institute of Medical Science in New Delhi divided 90 glaucoma patients into two groups. The meditation group practiced a meditation with breathing exercises for one hour every morning under the guidance of a trainer. In addition, they continued to take eye drops for high intraocular pressure. The second group served as controls and used the eye drops only.

Meditation lowers the pressure

After three weeks, the meditation showed its effects: In three quarters of the patients, the intraocular pressure decreased by an average of 25 percent. They were also more relaxed: the cortisol level in the blood - an indicator of stress - was lower than before the start of the study. In addition, the subjects in the meditation group had more endorphins - so-called happiness hormones - in their blood.

"In the case of mental stress, the tissue in the eye is poorly supplied with blood," says Prof. Bernhard Sabel, co-author of the study, to Stress hormones increase blood pressure, and the pressure in the veins in the eye also increases. Then the fine vessels narrow.

"The stress effect is lifted by meditation and the pressure in the eye normalizes," says the psychologist and brain researcher. Then the eyeball and the sensitive optic nerve are better supplied with oxygen and nutrients again.

Relaxation improves blood supply

Another possible explanation for the effect of relaxation: "Due to the improved blood circulation, pent-up fluids could also flow away better," says the researcher. However, this effect has not yet been proven, further investigations are necessary. It is also unclear how meditation will affect the disease in the long term. It may help prevent the disease from progressing any further.

The scientists are currently looking for participants for a further study on the subject. Interested glaucoma patients with visual disturbances in the field of vision, who are prepared to travel to Magdeburg two to three times, can contact [email protected] by e-mail.

Blindness from glaucoma

A group of eye diseases is called glaucoma or glaucoma. In the course of the disease, the nerve cells of the retina and the optic nerve are not adequately supplied with nutrients. The reason is a poor blood supply to the eye. In most cases, the pressure in the eyeball increases.

The disease goes unnoticed for a long time. If visual disturbances such as visual field defects occur, many nerve cells are usually already irreparably damaged. Green star is the third leading cause of blindness in developed countries.

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