MEN : FREE YOUR NECKS !

Why wearing a tie can be bad for your health

Maxine Frith

JUST WHEN dress-down Fridays are going out of fashion, medical research has shown that formal business attire could be a serious health risk.

Researchers in the United States have found that tightly knotted ties can increase the risk of the eye condition glaucoma. A savage double-windsor can constrict the jugular vein and put unhealthy pressure on the eyeball.

Glaucoma is often hereditary and can cause blindness. It develops when liquid excreted around the lens and the iris of the eye cannot drain properly, and the optic nerve is damaged.

Research by scientists at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, has found that a tight necktie can also cause the condition. They tested the internal optic blood pressure of 20 healthy men and 20 men with glaucoma. The participants were tested when they were wearing an open shirt collar, then three minutes after putting on a tie and then three minutes after loosening their ties. They found that 60 per cent of the men with glaucoma and 70 per cent of the healthy men experienced an increase in internal eye blood pressure after wearing a tight tie for just three minutes. In each case the tie was tightened around the buttoned collar "to the point of slight discomfort".

The researchers noted that a raised internal eye blood pressure was the most important risk factor for the development and progression of glaucoma.

The study also highlighted the problems of wearing a tie when going for an eye test where there was a risk it could lead to a false diagnosis of glaucoma.

Copyright 2003 Independent Newspapers