1 Cup of Tea a Day Lowers Glaucoma Risk

Consuming at least 1 cup of hot tea a day significantly reduces the risk for glaucoma, according to the findings of a recent study.

For their cross-sectional study, the researchers assessed data on coffee, tea, and soft drink consumption from 1678 participants involved in the 2005 through 2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A clinical diagnosis of glaucoma was determined based on the Rotterdarm criteria. Using logistic regression, the researchers examined the relationship between glaucoma and the frequency of each type of beverage consumption.
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Overall, the prevalence of glaucoma was 5.1% (n=84).

The consumption of coffee, soft drinks, and iced tea was not significantly associated with glaucoma.

Compared with participants who did not consume hot tea, those who consumed at least 1 cup of hot tea a day had a 74% lower risk for glaucoma (adjusted odds ratio 0.26). However, there was no statistically significant association between decaffeinated hot tea and glaucoma.

“In NHANES, participants who consumed hot tea daily were less likely to have glaucoma than those who did not consume hot tea,” the researchers concluded. “This study is limited by its cross-sectional design and use of multiple statistical testing, and larger prospective studies are needed to investigate the proposed association between tea consumption and decreased glaucoma risk.”

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Wu CM, Wu AM, Tseng VL, et al. Frequency of a diagnosis of glaucoma in individuals who consume coffee, tea and/or soft drinks [published online December 14, 2017]. British Journal of Ophthalmology. Br J Ophthalmol. doi:10.1136/bjophthalmol-2017-310924.