Eye Conditions Archives - Page 59 of 66 - Natural Eye Care Blog: News & Research on Vision

Green Tea May Help Protect Vision for Those with Glaucoma and Other Eye Conditions

Substances found in green tea work their way into the tissues of the eye and could protect against common eye diseases like glaucoma, researchers say.

The findings, published in the current issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, suggest that the substances, known as catechins, are absorbed by the lens, retina and other parts of the eye. Catechins are antioxidants thought to protect the body against damage from oxygen.
The study authors gave green tea to rats and then tested their eyes to see if catechins affected them. They did, reducing oxidative stress in the eye for up to 20 hours.

Editor’s Note: See more related information on nutrition and glaucoma.

Procyanidins Benefit Microcirculation in Early Diabetic Retinopathy

A new study now reports that pine bark extract (which contains procyanidins) may extend vision-saving benefits to diabetics with early stage retinopathy by improving retinal blood flow and inducing regression of edema.

A 2010 study suggests that pine bark extract (containing procyanidins) may be helpful to diabetics who have early diabetic retinopathy through improved retinal blood flow and lowering swelling edema.

About 40-50% of Americans who have been diagnosed with diabetes already have some stage of diabetic retinopathy, according to NIH.

Learn more about management of diabetic retinopathy.

Reference: Steigerwalt R, et al. Pycnogenol® improves microcirculation, retinal edema, and visual acuity in early diabetic retinopathy. J Ocular Pharmacol Therap 25:537-40, 2009.

Zeaxanthin Can Reduce Chances of Macular Degeneration by 79%

High levels of plasma zeaxanthin had a 93% reduced risk of AMD. Globally, subjects with high total plasma lutein and zeaxanthin had a 79% reduced risks of AMD compared with subjects with low total plasma lutein and zeaxanthin.

In 2006 research patients with high levels of zeaxanthin in their blood plasma had a 93% lower risk of macular degeneration. Similarly, patients with high total zeaxanthin in lutein in their blood plasma had 79% reduced risk of macular degeneration compared with patients with low total lutein and zeaxanthin in blood plasma.

Published: IOVS, June 2006, Vol. 47, No. 6

Zeaxanthin is a yellow phytonutrient pigment located in many fruits and vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli, goji berry, kale, turnip greens, collard greens, kiwifruit, and brussel sprouts.

Lowering cataract rate with vitamins C & E

Nurses’ Health Study and the Beaver Dam Eye Study, have found a lower risk of cataracts or cataract progression in those who took high levels of vitamin C. Women who consumed the most vitamin E from food and supplements, about 262 mg a day ( approximately the equivalent of 3 cups of almonds were 14% less likely to develop cataracts than those who consumed only 4 mg a day.

Scientists have found that there is a lower cataract risk as well as lower chance of cataracts becoming more serious in patients who take high levels of vitamin C looking at data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Beaver Dam Study. Other researchers found that the Beaver Dam Eye Study and Nurses’ Health Study found that women who have the highest intake of vitamin E from food and supplements, about 262 mg a day (the equivalent of 3 cups of almonds!) were 14% less likely to develop cataracts than those who consumed only 4 mg a day.

Vitamin E functions as an antioxidant scavenging free radicals and providing many other valuable functions. Other food sources include wheat germ, other nuts and seeds and leafy dark green vegetables.

See more related studies on nutrition and cataracts.

Another observational 10-year study of more than 35,000 middle-aged U.S. women observed the women’s use of dietary supplements and occurrence of cataracts.*

The study found significant evidence that women who got more lutein, zeaxanthin and vitamin E were less likely to develop cataracts than women who are lacking intake of these nutrients. In fact, the women who got the most lutein, zeaxanthin and vitamin E were 18% less likely to get cataracts.

*Christen, W. Archives of Ophthalmology, January 2008; vol 126: pp 102-109

Killer Carbohydrates & Diabetes

According to 2007 data from the National Institutes of Health, 25% of Americans 20 years and older had abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood—a pre-diabetic state. That number leapt to 35% in individuals 60 and older.

One quarter of Americans over 20 years old have abnormally high glucose levels – which is considered to be pre-diabetic. By the time Americans are 60 or older the percentage rises to 35%. Considering the US population data, as of 2009, about 60,000,000 citizens are pre-diabetic and at very high risk of developing diabetes.

Due to excess carbohydrates in the diet, about 20% of Americans are pre-diabetic.
Carbohydrates are absorbed into the blood primarily due to the digestive enzymes amylase, sucrase, and glucosidase.
However, L-arabinose – a natural, mostly indigestible sugar – blocks sucrase activity, preventing sugar sucrose from moving into the bloodstream.
Similarly, extracts of seaweed, white beans, and Irvingia block starch breakdown in the intestine, preventing these calories from being absorbed into the bloodstream.
Green tea extract helps your body metabolize additional calories while you are not active.
All together these are natural compounds that have the potential to dramatically slow total carbohydrate intake, limit blood sugar and insulin spikes after meals, and help support weight loss.

Editor’s Note: See more information on nutrition, diabetes and diabetic retinopathy.

Sources: National Institutes of Health, 2007, 2009

Gene Therapy for Leber’s Disease

In 2009, Dr. Jean Bennett and his team from Albert Maguire of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine injected a benign virus carrying a connected copy of an essential gene into a teenage boy’s retina. This patient had lost vision due to a genetic disorder called “Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LGA).

The result was improved vision as the gene therapy enabled the body to make new rods and cones (which normally are irreplaceable once lost).

Other young patients given the same procedure also were able to see better. This remarkable procedure is in a Phase I clinical trial, published in Lancet.

Low level of antioxidants with exposure to blue light increases risk of macular degeneration, study suggests.

Some cases of age-related macular degeneration may arise from a combination of low plasma levels of antioxidants and exposure to blue light from the sun, a multinational European study suggested.

By itself, blue-light exposure had no associations with neovascular or early-stage age-related macular degeneration. However, analysis of blue-light exposure by antioxidant quartile revealed consistent and significant association with neovascular age-related macular degeneration among those in the lowest quartile of vitamin C, vitamin E, zeaxanthin, and dietary zinc (odds ratio of about 1.4 per standard unit deviation increase in blue-light exposure).

Source reference:
Fletcher AE, et al “Sunlight exposure, antioxidants, and age-related macular degeneration” Arch Ophthalmol 2008; 126: 1396-1403.

For more information in macular degeneration and nutrition, Click Here

Soy peptide lunasin has anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory properties

Two new University of Illinois studies report that lunasin, a soy
peptide often discarded in the waste streams of soy-processing
plants, may have important health benefits that include fighting
leukemia and blocking the inflammation that accompanies such
chronic health conditions as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, heart
disease, and stroke.

In another study, the first to report lunasin’s potential
anti-inflammatory activity, they showed that lunasin blocked or
reduced the activation of an important marker called NF-kappa-B,
a link in the chain of biochemical events that cause inflammation.

Lunasin’s bioavailability in the human body was confirmed by doing a
third study in which men consumed 50 grams of soy protein–one soy
milk shake and a serving of soy chili daily–for five days.

Editor’s Note1: Note that soy flour does contain high concentrations of the peptide.
Editor’s Note2: Chronic systemic inflammation can cause or contribute to many eye conditions such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, macula edema, optic neuritis, uveitis and iritis for example. Chronic inflammation is now considered a major contributor to heart disease as well.

For more information on ways to help manage inflammation nutritionally, Click Here

Study: Promising Research on differentiating adult stem cells to replace lost RPE cells for those with Macular Degeneration

Adult stem cells coaxed into differentiating into retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, critical for preserving vision for those with macular degeneration. This study was done in vitro and in vivo following transplantation into the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) dystrophic rat.

More research needs to be done to see the application of this technique for humans.

Citation: Carr A-J, Vugler AA, Hikita ST, Lawrence JM, Gias C, et al. (2009) Protective Effects of Human iPS-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cell Transplantation in the Retinal Dystrophic Rat. PLoS ONE 4(12): e8152. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008152

For more related studies on macular degeneration and nutrition, go to Click Here

New Study Shows Possible Correlation of Low Blood Levels of Melatonin and Higher Risk of Macular Degeneration

After adjustment for the factors of age, smoking, and histories of cancer and coronary heart disease, researchers found that urinary levels of melatonin was 40% lower in AMD patients compared than that of the age-and gender-matched controls.

The researchers concluded: “The significance of this result and the role of melatonin in the occurrence of AMD require further investigation.”

Ref: Molecular Vision (Urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin level in age-related macular degeneration patients. Molecular Vision, 2009;15(179-80):1673-1679).

For more related studies, go to Natural Eye Care Macular Degeneration Research Studies