Effect of Ramadan fasting on physiologic myopia

Abstract Background: Simple myopia is one of the most common ocular abnormalities. Objective: To evaluate the effect of Ramadan fasting on physiologic myopia. Methods: In a descriptive and through a cross-sectional study, 118 simple myopia students with the age range of 15 to 25 were selected in four educational centers in 1999. They were Moslem and did fasting. Their eyes were examined before and after Ramadan and after shavval (One month after Ramadan). The data was analyzed by SPSS statistical program. Findings: 101 left eyes and 97 right eyes were tested in this study. The mean age of the cases was 19.28. The mean number of fasting was 23 days. At the end of Ramadan, there were 0.21 D for left eyes and 0.24 D for right eye increase of myopia. There were also 0.17 D for left and 0.14 D for right eye at the end of shavval. The difference between myopic changes in Ramadan as compared with shavval were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Since Ramadan is only one month in the year, it may not have adverse effects on simple myopic students.