奇速英语

睡姿竟悄悄影响视力健康？

A new study suggests that the way you position your head during sleep could affect your eye health. Researchers found that sleeping without a pillow may help keep eye pressure lower, which could be important for people with glaucoma (青光眼). It occurs when high pressure inside the eye damages the nerve. Eye pressure naturally rises when a person lies down, so sleep posture matters more than you might think.

Scientists believe that using stacked pillows bends the neck. This can press on the jugular veins (颈静脉), the veins that carry blood away from the head, and interfere with the normal drainage (液体排除) of fluid inside the eye. When fluid cannot drain properly, eye pressure goes up.

Researchers studied 144 adults with glaucoma. Over 24 hours, they measured each person’s eye pressure while sitting, lying flat without a pillow, and lying with the head raised on two pillows. After lying with pillows for 10 minutes, eye pressure was recorded again.

The results showed that 67% of the participants had higher eye pressure when their head was raised with pillows. On average, pressure increased by about 1.6 mmHg with pillows compared to lying flat. At the same time, blood flow to the eyes decreased when pillows were used. Younger adults and those with the most common form of glaucoma experienced larger increases.

To explore the cause, the team also examined 20 healthy volunteers. They found that using pillows narrowed the inner space of the jugular veins and increased blood flow speed, which supports the idea that neck position affects circulation and eye pressure.

The researchers suggest that avoiding sleep positions that press on the neck veins might help manage eye pressure. This points to a simple behavioral change that could support traditional treatments. As they noted, such changes may serve as “a simple yet potentially effective strategy.” Patients with glaucoma should talk to a doctor about their sleep posture.