An American study suggests that stress leads to an increase in pressure inside the eyeball.
A new deleterious effect of stress on health? A study published in the journal Aging Cell suggests that chronic stress constrains the ocular tissue to accelerate its aging processleading to a reduction or even a loss of the vision.
It was carried out by scientists from the University of California, who examined the optic nerve head of eyes treated with a slight rise in pressure, in mice.
An eye that ages prematurely
What the researchers realized was that in the head of the young optic nerve there was no loss of axons, which are nerve extensions.
In contrast in the optic nerves ofanimals older, a noticeable loss of axons was noted, similar to what can be observed among the glaucoma patients.
An important early diagnosis
Skowronska-Krawczyk, a professor in the Departments of Physiology and Biophysics and Ophthalmology on the faculty of the Center for Translational Vision Research at the UCI School of Medicine, said in a statement:
Our work emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis and prevention as well as the specific management of maladies age-related, including glaucoma.
She then states:
The epigenetic changes observed suggest that the modifications at the chromatin level are acquired cumulatively, following several cases of stress. This gives us a window of opportunity for the prevention of vision loss, if and when the disease is recognized early.
Determine the age of retinal tissue
It is a new tool that has made it possible to observe this slight and repeated elevation of the pressure inside the eye, which can therefore promotethe epigenetic age of tissues. The scientist concludes:
In addition to measuring vision decline and some structural changes due to stress and potential treatment, we can now measure the epigenetic age of retinal tissue and use it to find the optimal strategy to prevent vision loss with the aging.
