IMPACT OF EXERCISE ON INTRAOCULAR PRESSURE IN RELATION TO BODY MASS INDEX

Background and Objective: Intraocular pressure 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, we wanted to investigate the effect of exercise on intraocular pressure changes in relation with Body Mass Index. Materials and Methods: The effect of exercise on intraocular pressure and blood pressure was evaluated in our clinical laboratory in 30 voluntary 1st year Medical students of Kasturba Medical College Bejai, Mangalore after the institutional ethical clearance. Materials used in the study were schizont tonometer, Measuring tape, Weighing Scale, treadmill and Paracaine eye drops. After a resting period, the subjects height and weight was recorded, Paracaine eye drops were instilled in both the eyes and then intraocular pressure recorded using Schizont Tonometer after 2 min so that anaesthetics acts. Then they were asked to walk on treadmill with average speed till they were exhausted, again intraocular pressure was noted as above with all aseptic precautions. The statistical analysis was done using students unpaired t- test using SPSS software Results were expressed in terms of mean and standard deviation.