Natural Eye Care Blog: News & Research on Vision

Recycling Medical Instruments: The “Greening” of Ophthalmology

medical technician — Image Courtesy of macombcountymi.gov

European ophthalmologists are jumping on the “green” bandwagon and attempting to develop a program dedicated to the recycling and recovery of surgical instruments.

As single-use surgical instruments grow in popularity, so have environmental concerns as people consider the effect their manufacture and disposal have on the planet. European fabricator of medical devices, Blink Medical, is working with doctors to help them recycle their equipment. The company is taking responsibility for the collection, cleaning, and recycling of the instruments at no charge to the physicians.

As the popularity for single-use surgical instruments grows exponentially throughout Europe, concerns have been raised over the impact such devices have on the environment, particularly when it comes to their disposal.

Source: Ocula.info

What’s one way you can make a positive impact on the planet? Eat organic foods free of the pesticides that can harm our environment and your body. Consider the many positive health benefits of juicing and get juicing tips at our website. Juicing benefits your eyes and your health in general.

Vast Majority of Americans Have Inadequate Diets Per National Cancer Institute

A study of over 16,000 US adults has prompted researchers from the National Cancer Institute and the National Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion to announce that almost no one in the population manages to eat withing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The findings, published in the Journal of Nutrition include:

The majority of those studied failed to meet MyPyramid (https://www.mypyramid.gov/) guidelines except in total grains, meats, and beans
90% of people under 70 and 80% of people over 7o eat too many “discretionary calories”
Young adults are the most likely to eat too few fruits, milk and oils
People between 31 and 50 are most likely to drink too much alcohol

According to this study “nearly everyone failed to meet recommendations for dark green vegetables, orange vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.”

Source: Nutraingredients

A balanced, nutrient rich diet is essential to eye health and to overall health. Poor nutrition can be linked to everything from dark circles under your eyes to glaucoma.

Lutein and Zeaxanthin Reduce Macular Degeneration Risk

The carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin are selectively absorbed by the macula of the eye in order to protect one from developing diseases like macular degeneration. A new study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association seeks to measure lutein and zeaxanthin consumption by age, sex, and ethnicity.

Among all age groups, both sexes, and all ethnicities, intakes of lutein were greater than of zeaxanthin. Zeaxanthin to lutein ratios in Mexican Americans was considerably greater than other ethnicities (other Hispanics, non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, other races). Lower zeaxanthin to lutein ratios were measured in groups at risk for age-related macular degeneration (e.g., older participants, women). The authors of this study state that their findings “suggest that the relative intake of lutein and zeaxanthin may be important to age-related macular degeneration risk.”

Source: LefDailyNews

Green vegetables such as kale, spinach, turnip greens, collard greens, romaine lettuce, broccoli, zucchini, garden peas and brussel sprouts are among the best sources of lutein and zeaxanthin. For more on food sources of nutrients, visit our website.

Learn more about preventing and treating macular degeneration.

Personality Types and Cardiovascular Disease

heart with monitor line — Image courtesy of Oregon.gov

“Type D” Personality

Heart disease researchers have identified a new personality type that can influence your health. Those with the “type-D personality” are heart disease patients who suffer from psychological distress and are more likely to experience “adverse cardiovascular events.”

The “D” does not necessarily stand for depression, though some of these individuals may exhibit symptoms of depression. Study leader Dr Johan Denollet (Tilburg University, the Netherlands) tells heartwire “This is the type of patient that tells you everything is okay, that there are no problems, but you can sense that something is going on, something is not quite right.” He goes on, “On the one hand, type-D people have the tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anxiety, depression, stress, and so on,” he said. “At the same time, they also score higher [on tests] measuring social inhibition. Type-D patients are more closed in social interactions and are more unlikely to disclose their personal feelings toward others and tend to feel a bit insecure. This combination makes them more liable to chronic forms of psychological distress.”

Constant stress causes increased levels of stress hormones like cortisol, which can lead to future heart attacks. Stress can also lead to chronic inflammation, which also can contribute to heart problems.

Source: https://www.theheart.org/article/1121787.do

Stifling Anger at Work Doubles Risk

Researchers have substantiated the well understood theory that stress at work is tied to increased risk of heart disease. In a new study reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, scientists reported that male employees who normally stifle their resentment regarding disagreements with their boss or co-worker were more than two times as likely to have a heart attack or die of heart disease as those workers who expressed their anger.

Both western and alternative care providers have acknowledged that there is a connection between strong emotions and heart disease. Chinese medicine takes this a step further to recognize a strong connection between most extremely strong emotions and most diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine recognizes that emotions play a critical role in development of disease – such as repressed anger impairing the Liver (meridian) which can result in a wide range of illnesses (such as heart disease and migraines) and eye diseases (including glaucoma, dry eyes and eye inflammatory conditions), grief affecting the Kidneys (meridians) and sadness affecting the Stomach/Spleen (meridians).

For more information on lifestyle, diet and vision, go to www.naturaleyecare.com

Positive Emotions Helpful

A 2010 study reported that happy, enthusiastic, content people are less likely to suffer from heart disease than those whose tendency is toward unhappiness and pessimism. The research is the first showing a significant relationship between heart disease and a positive outlook.

Editor’s Note: Having a positive attitude helps boost us maintain a healthy immune system. Cardiovascular disease can be a major contributor to eye disease such as macular degeneration and glaucoma.

Published: European Heart Journal, Feb. 18, 2010

At NaturalEyeCare.com we focus on the importance of managing stress in order to improve your overall health, and, by extension, the health of your eyes. Please read more about ways in which prevention is the best medicine for ails you.

Blueberries Help Prevent Diabetes and Macular Degeneration

New research published in the Journal of Nutrition shows that the bioactive ingredients in blueberries may help people fend off diabetes.

A study of people who were at risk for diabetes (obese and insulin-resistant but not yet diagnosed with diabetes) showed that consuming smoothies rich in blueberry bioactives twice per day for 6 weeks showed a 22% change in insulin sensitivity. This was the first study of its kind to indicate that the nutrients in blueberries can help regulate insulin levels in at-risk adults. It is believed that the flavonoids in blueberries – in particular anthocyanins and flavanols – are responsible for this positive effect.

Source: Nutraingredients

Blueberries are also great for the eyes as they are rich in antioxidants. Studies have linked blueberries and other antioxidants to the prevention of macular degeneration.

New Study in the Inherited Nature of Autism

A recent study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry shows first-degree relatives of people with autism shows that family members who do not have the disorder themselves may still have oculomotor impairments. These family members who were not on the autism spectrum tended to have trouble with eye movement tasks. They also “demonstrated executive dysfunction on neuropsychological tests, communication abnormalities, and increased rates of obsessive and compulsive behaviors, but these were independent from one another and from oculomotor impairments,” say study authors.

The hope is that finding such evidence within families will help provide more clues that will lead to future therapeutic discoveries as researchers better understand the genetic nature of autism heritability.

Source: Medscape

Glaucoma May Originate in Brain, Not Retina

Cellular Basis for Glaucoma

Researchers at Catalyst for a Cure (CFC) consortium, a division of the Glaucoma Research Foundation, have announced their continuing work in 2011: studying how and why retinal ganglion cells degenerate in people with glaucoma. Retinal ganglion cells are types of neuron located near the inner surface eye’s retina. They receive visual images from the photoreceptors and transmit the information to the brain.

These CFC researchers are looking at the onset and progression of glaucoma at the level of the cells and molecular pathways. They have noted that the degeneration of the retinal ganglion cells is related to the loss of connectivity that accompanies glaucoma. According to the CFC: “These degenerative changes compromise the neuron’s ability to process and transmit visual information well before the neurons actually die.” The team has determined that the retinal ganglion cells are particularly vulnerable early in the development of glaucoma, “when these cells are more sensitive to metabolic insults and stressors.

Glaucoma May Originate in Brain, Not Retina

Other research has suggested that glaucoma may not originate in the retina itself, but at the other end of the optic nerve located back in the middle of the brain. In a study of rodents published in PNAS, it was found that the problem may stem from the nerve’s inability to transport impulses. The scientists from Vanderbilt University and University of Washington say that this transport deficit seems related to the subject’s age and is not necessarily related in increased ocular pressure. Locating glaucoma’s cause in the nerve rather than the retina may lead to new breakthroughs in glaucoma detection and therapy.

Source: https://www.pnas.org/content/107/11/5196.abstract

The Effect of Pesticides on Child Development: New Study

crop dusting — Photo by Ken Hammond (USDA)

Researchers are studying the relationship between the gene paraoxonase 1 (PON1) and the effect of pesticides on the body. They have already established that a increased level of organophosphate (OP) pesticides in the body are related to poorer mental development in two year olds whose mothers were exposed to the chemical. This study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives is aimed at determining whether scientists can use PON1 as a marker to measure whether child development has been hindered by pesticide exposure. Additional research is necessary to determine whether this gene is related to the way that pesticides affect pregnant mothers and whether babies are affected in utero.

Pesticides are known to have an especially strong impact on children. According to the Children’s Environmental Health Centers (part of the EPA): “Research has shown that children are not ‘little adults’ – they have different exposures, different susceptibilities and sensitivities, and different outcomes when exposed to substances in the environment. Because children are still developing, the timing of an exposure to chemicals such as pesticides in terms of life stage can be critical in determining the effects. Children also are exposed differently than adults – they are closer to the ground, young children are crawlers and toddlers and tend to pick things up and put them in their mouths. In addition, children also have a higher surface to volume ratio than adults, so any exposure may affect them proportionately more.

People With Vision Loss Can Experience Visual Hallucinations

“Phantom limb pain” is something we may have heard of, but it turns out that people who lose their vision often experience something similar.

Researchers who reported at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Joint Annual Meeting With the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology stated that patients with vision loss are much more likely to experience “vivid visual hallucinations” than previously believed.

Between 10-38% of those with vision loss from such conditions as macular degeneration, experience what is called Charles Bonnet syndrome. The authors of the study wrote that patients experience hallucinations such as “double-decker buses driving into the patient’s living room or people sitting on a couch. These patients are diagnosed with the condition if they have both vision loss and the vivid hallucinations.

Researchers think that when the visual cortex doesn’t have valid sensory input the brain spontaneously provided remembered images – but this does not explain why all patients do not have the experience. Medical professionals do not generally prescribe any particular treatment and feel that the patients with the condition gradually get used to it.

Published: Medscape Medical News

Potential Retinitis Pigmentosa Cure Using Adult Stem Cells

Researchers are working to find a way to use adult stem cells to treat retinitis pigmentosa. Scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical Center are trying to replicate in humans what has been possible in rats and mice: making stem cells in the back of they eye become like the light-capturing cells that have deteriorated in retinitis pigmentosa sufferers. In addition to offering hope to those with RP, this study, published in PLoS One, also gives a window into the potential uses of adult stem cells now that the embryonic stem cell controversy has been revived.

Source: https://www.omaha.com/article/20100906/NEWS01/709069937/1124

We are still a long way from successful stem cell work, and many like us will always to choose a more natural approach, at least in the beginning. Try these natural retinitis pigmentosa treatment options.