Mediterranean dietary pattern not beneficial for dry eye syndrome, research finds

In a new Cornea study, researchers reported that increasing vitamin D in patients with dry eye syndrome had a positive but small effect.

Galor and colleagues also found that DES was associated with a Mediterranean dietary pattern (MeDi), according to the study.

In their cross-sectional study, researchers evaluated 247 male participants for DES. Participants also answered questions about their diets and eyes, as detailed in the study.

Results showed that participants who adhered to a MeDi were more likely to have DES along with increased disease severity. There was little significance between vitamin D levels and severity or presence of DES, according to the study. Researchers noted, however, that participants with higher levels of vitamin D experienced less DES symptoms.

"As with all studies, our work has limitations that need to be considered when interpreting its results," the authors reported. "First, we measured tear parameters at one time point, and DES is a disease known to have substantial temporal variation. Second, we recognize that all methods of dietary assessment are imperfect, with potential sources of error including possible difficulties recalling food consumed over the past year, underreporting of unhealthy intakes and overreporting of healthy foods.

“Moreover, the food frequency questionnaire food list is finite and, therefore, may not fully account for interindividual differences in the intake of certain nutrients,” they continued. “Last, some variables that may have confounded our results were not assessed, and these include socioeconomic status, caffeine intake, occupation and exposure to sunlight."

"Despite these limitations, we did not find a beneficial effect of adhering to the MeDi on the DES," they concluded. "Higher vitamin D levels had a small but favorable effect on DES symptoms."

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Source:

Cornea. 2014; doi: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000000089.