In a new study, researchers found that following a long-term diet that’s low in carbohydrates and high in fat and protein from vegetables may lower the risk of the most common subtype of glaucoma.
They found that if at-risk groups adhere to these dietary restrictions, they may reduce their risk of developing primary open-angle glaucoma with early paracentral visual loss by 20%.
The research was conducted by a team at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE) and elsewhere.
Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in the United States and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common type.
POAG is the leading cause of optic nerve degeneration that is related to the pressure level inside the eye, but other factors also contribute to this condition.
Patients typically experience few or no symptoms until the disease progresses and they have vision loss.
In the study, the team followed 185,000 adult participants from three large studies in the United States, conducted between 1976 and 2017.
Participants were female nurses and male health professionals between the ages of 40 and 75. Every two to four years, they filled out food frequency questionnaires that assessed what they ate and drank.
They also answered questions about their health and what diseases, if any, might be developing.
If they said they had glaucoma, the researchers asked their treating eye care providers to send medical records to determine if they had POAG.
The researchers found a diet low in carbohydrates and higher in fats and proteins results in the generation of metabolites favorable for the mitochondrion-rich optic nerve head, which is the site of damage in POAG.
Patients in the low-carbohydrate intake group who followed a diet of increased plant-based fat and protein were linked to a 20% lower risk of developing POAG subtype with paracentral visual field loss compared to those in the high-carbohydrate intake group.
This dietary pattern has already been shown to have favorable results for epilepsy and showed some promising results for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
The team says it’s important to note that a low-carbohydrate diet won’t stop glaucoma progression if people already have it, but it may be a means to preventing glaucoma in high-risk groups.
If more patients in these high-risk categories—including those with a family history of glaucoma—adhered to this diet, there might be fewer cases of vision loss.
One author of the study is Louis R. Pasquale, MD, FARVO, Deputy Chair for Ophthalmology Research for the Mount Sinai Health System.
The study is published in Eye-Nature.
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