Effect of aerobic exercise alone or combined with Mediterranean diet on dry eye in obese hypertensive elderly

BACKGROUND: Lifestyle modification is a newly recommended complementary treatment for dry eye (DE) disorder. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of a 6-month high-intensity interval aerobic exercise (HIIAE) (conducted 30 min, 3 times weekly) alone or combined with a caloric-restriction approach, the Mediterranean diet (MD), on DE parameters in obese hypertensive elderly. THE DESIGN, SETTINGS, PARTICIPANTS, AND INTERVENTION: This is a randomized controlled trial included sixty obese hypertensive elderly with DE based on university-based hospital recruitment. Elderly were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 30 elderly received HIIAE plus MD) and control group (n = 30 elderly received only HIIAE). Besides anthropometry (abdominal circumference, body weight, and body mass index) and blood pressure (measured in systole and diastole), DE parameters (tear film break-up time, DE scoring system, ocular surface disability index questionnaire, Schirmer’s test, and Oxford grading system) were evaluated. RESULTS: Significant improvements in anthropometry, blood pressure, and DE parameters were higher in the experimental group than in the control group. CONCLUSION: Aging-related DE symptoms and signs can be prevented and/or treated with HIIAE alone or combined with MD in obese hypertensive elderly with DE disorder.