Glaucoma ten times more likely in snorers

SNORERS are ten times more at risk of glaucoma, a build-up of pressure in the eye that can lead to blindness.

Snoring is a common symptom of sleep apnoea, where the airway collapses or becomes blocked during sleep, causing the patient to stop breathing temporarily.

Scientists at Hokkaido University, Japan, fitted sleep apnoea patients with a device that sits on the eye like a contact lens, measuring changes in eye pressure as they slept.

The researchers found that when patients stopped breathing, the pressure rose as the oxygen supply stopped. This triggered optic nerve damage, which can lead to glaucoma.