Eye Opener on Saint Patty's Day

For the second most sacred day on my Google Calendar, I am delighted to write up a beer introspective. The salubrious effects of alcohol on our cardiovascular system, HDL (good cholesterol) levels, and general well-being are well documented. You have also no doubt heard that too much alcohol may damage your liver and your brain, raise your blood pressure, cause gastroesophageal reflux, increase the rate of certain GI inflammatory conditions and cancers, and give you hella halitosis (bad breath). But how does alcohol affect the windows to your soul?

The most obvious effects of too much beer or wine consumption are noted with conjunctival "injection." Injection is a fancy word for "bloodshot eyes."  The superficial blood vessels in the conjunctiva dilate or enlarge, in response to alcohol.  You will notice your facial skin may redden for the same reason.

Next, I regret to to inform you that, in contrast to its cannaboid competitor, alcohol raises one's intraocular pressure.  This fact is disputed, however by our mates down-under who claim no association between alcohol consumption and elevated intraocular pressure or glaucoma!  Hey, what's good for Aussies is good for us -- take Yellowtail Shiraz, for example.

Eye related trauma is often associated with alcohol, whether it be violent (bar fight in the Bronx) or non-violent (woman walks into coat hanger at Upper East Side party. Woman shows up at ER with coat-hanger in eye). True stories.  According to a six-year study conducted in 28 states by Johns Hopkins' Wilmer Eye Institute, 24% of penetrating eye trauma was linked to alcohol consumption.  Direct corneal exposure to alcoholic beverages can also cause some damage in the form of a chemical abrasion. A hundred-proof Puerto Rican rum, for example, may burn its way to the deeper layers of the cornea and leave permanent scarring. Another true story.

To make things worse for chronic alcoholics, a daily "liquid diet" can cause nutritional deficiency (especially vitamins B1, B12, and Vitamin A), which harms the optic nerve in the eye and leads to irreversible vision loss.  Still, nutritional optic neuropathy is exceedingly rare, and certainly not a leading cause of blindness.

Any good ocular news about our fermented friend? Lets look at the glass half full. In moderation, alcohol does not cause any lasting damages. A study of over 4400 patients in Beijing concluded that: "When adjusted for the systemic parameters of age, gender, rural/urban region, level of education, and smoking, self-reported moderate consumption of alcohol does not have a significant effect on the prevalence of major ocular diseases or the physiologic parameters of intraocular pressure and refractive error." Another Hopkins team went even further and declared that "moderate alcohol use . . . has been reported to be possibly protective against age-related macular degeneration, cataract and diabetic retinopathy[!]"  And on Saint Patrick's Day a little beer binge is a mitzva.

Characteristics and causes of penetrating eye injuries reported to the National Eye Trauma System Registry, 1985-91. Parver LM, Dannenberg AL, Blacklow B, Fowler CJ, Brechner RJ, Tielsch JM. Public Health Rep. 1993 Sep-Oct;108(5):625-32.

Prevalence of alcohol consumption and risk of ocular diseases in a general population: the Beijing Eye Study. Xu L, You QS, Jonas JB. Ophthalmology. 2009 Oct;116(10):1872-9. Epub 2009 Aug 26.

Surv Ophthalmol. 2008 Sep-Oct;53(5):512-25. Alcohol and eye diseases. Wang S, Wang JJ, Wong TY.
J Stud Alcohol. 2001 May;62(3):397-402. Alcohol and eye diseases: a review of epidemiologic studies. Hiratsuka Y, Li G.