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© Richard S. Cherry Author It’s The Easiest Thing You’ll Ever Do 149
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Professor Belkin said that people with high Body Mass Index (BMI) who are clinically obese have an increased
chance of eye disease.

These diseases are also more likely to progress more quickly in obese people.

The researchers said that in some cases the reason for the link between obesity and the diseases was clear.

For example, since glaucoma, diabetes and AMD all affect the vascular system and excess weight is known to
create pulmonary problems, the blood vessels in the eye are affected and sight deteriorates.

But the link between weight and cataracts is less clear.

"Nobody has the faintest idea why cataracts are affected since it is a disease of the lens of the eye," Prof.
Belkin said.

Dr. Habot-Wilner said it was likely that the link had something to do with the fact that obese people face a
greater chance of developing gout - a disease in which the development of cataracts is more common.

But she stressed that in their study they wanted to raise awareness of the risks of sight problems linked to
obesity, rather than why these conditions occur more often and cause more damage in obese people.

"The message we want to send is that obesity can cause not just cancer and hypertension but also ocular
(eye) disease.

"While this is something that most ophthalmologists know, it's not common knowledge and it should be.

"It's the risk factor that no one talks about."

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