EFFECT OF AEROBIC EXERCISE OF MODERATE INTENSITY AND SHORT DURATION ON INTRAOCULAR PRESSURE IN YOUNG INDIVIDUALS

Intra-ocular pressure (IOP) in normal individuals varies throughout the night and day. The diurnal variation for normal eyes is between 3 and 6mmHg and the variation may increase in glaucomatous eyes. Hence, the present effort is to investigate the effect of moderate exercise on intraocular pressure changes. IOP was measured before and after exercise in 100 subjects (50M, 50F)with no ocular abnormality with ages ranging from 18-21 years by using Schiotz tonometer. Weight,height and body mass index, were recorded. The results obtained were compared between beforeand-after-exercise of the subjects. The data were presented as the mean ± SD, Student’s t-test wasused to calculate significance between means. The IOP showed a statistically significant fall followingmoderate exercise. The mean IOP significantly decreased (p 0.05) decreased after 60 minutes of aerobic exercise. Gender wisecomparison of intraocular pressure both before and after exercise did not reveal much significance.Physical exercise, such as jogging, walking and bicycle riding, could be suggested as a complimentarytherapy in addition to the pharmaceutical and surgical therapies available for glaucoma patients,even though the mechanism for lowering IOP is not clear enough.