effect of religious fasting on basal tear secretion, tear break up time and intraocular pressure

purpose: to compare the effect of religious fasting on basal tear secretion (bts), tear break up time (tbt) and intraocular pressure (iop) in ramadan 2005. methods: one-hundred fifty-six healthy male volunteers less than 40 years of age from tehran, zahedan, ahvaz, mashhad and tabriz with no ocular and systemic disease participated in this study. weight, urine specific gravity, bts, tbt and iop were measured at 8:00 am one week before as well as at 8:00 am and 5.00 pm in the third week of ramadan. results: mean age of participants was 30±5.9 years. duration of fasting was 12-13 hours. mean tbt, bts and iop decreased by 1.8 second (p<0.0001), 2.1 mm (p<0.0001) and 0.5 mmhg (p<0.0001), respectively at 5:00 pm in the third week of ramadan compared to 8:00 am one week before ramadan. iop reduction was not clinically significant. conclusion: significant decrease in bts and tbt was seen after three weeks of religions fasting.