October 4/Boston/Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science -- A new paper published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science finds coffee drinkers could have an increased risk of developing exfoliation glaucoma. This study, entitled “The Relation between Caffeine and Coffee Consumption and Exfoliation Glaucoma or Glaucoma Suspect: A Prospective Study in Two Cohorts,” is the first of its kind to draw a link between caffeinated coffee and exfoliation glaucoma in American coffee fans. According to the study’s author, Jae Hee Kang, the high levels of this coffee consumption in other countries spurred their desire to study these effects on Americans.
“Scandinavian populations have the highest frequencies of exfoliation syndrome and glaucoma,” said Kang, ScD, of Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass.