The Occasional Drink Could Be Good For Your Eye Health

Who would have thought that the occasional drink reduces the risk of visual impairment? Although not as effective as having a physically active lifestyle, occasionally drinking can significantly decrease the chances of developing visual impairments, a research team from the University of Wisconsin has established.

The study covered almost 5,000 adults ranging in age from 43 to 84. The focus of the research was on three changeable lifestyle behaviours: smoking, drinking and physical activity. The aim of the study was to establish their link to incidents of visual impairment.

Visual impairment is defined as sight loss that cannot be corrected with the help of glasses or contact lenses. It is often the result of eye disease, injury or a congenital condition. Age clearly plays a part but the researchers were interested in controllable extraneous factors.

Over the course of 20 years, 5.4% of the subjects developed visual impairment. The proportion for sedentary people was 6.7%, whilst the figure for physically active subjects was 2%. When the results were adjusted for age, the researchers estimated that people who remained active over the years decreased the odds of developing visual impairment by 58%.

Interestingly, the study also suggests that having an occasional drink is better than abstinence; while 11% of non-drinkers developed a visual impairment over 20 years, the respective proportion for occasional drinkers was 4.8%. The researchers define “occasional drinkers” as people whose average alcohol consumption amounts to less than one drink a week. Having adjusted the results for age, the academic team calculated that the risk of visual impairment was 49% lower for occasional drinkers when compared to people who did not drink at all.