Astaxanthin and the eye

Even while on vacation (visiting my son in Kauai), I try to get caught up on some educational reading.

I just happened along an article on the Designs for Health blog about the carotenoid astaxanthin and benefits for eye health. I couldn’t help but be amazed and how the writer makes connections with the science that really don’t exist.

The author opens the blog post by discussing how digital screens “dominate our environment” no matter where we’re at.

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the average youth spends about 7.5 hours a day using entertainment media.

The blogger writes: “In addition to the various psychological and social consequences of unbalanced screen time, the electromagnetic radiation from screens has been shown to elicit retinal oxidative stress and corneal damage,” according to the journal Molecular Vision.

Now, that sounds pretty ominous – that we’d do something terrible to our eyes! While the author is correct regarding the 7.5 hours of digital display viewing, we know that the amount of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) coming from the screens is miniscule.

But it gets worse. The blog references another study from Molecular Vision that states that ultraviolet light acts as low-dose ionizing radiation; acute UVB exposure causes photokeratitis and induces apoptosis in corneal cells; and astaxanthin, a carotenoid/antioxidant found in seafood, has potential clinical applications.

The study looked at albino rats who were exposed to CRT (deep, older technology) display screens at a distance of 8 inches to determine whether the topical administration of astaxanthin has preventive and therapeutic effects on UV photokeratitis.

Do you think the rats might have had a problem with that? How does this relate to the average computer user today? Not very well, in my view!

The first Molecular Vision study the blogger mentioned investigated the protective effectiveness of astaxanthin against light-induced retinal damage. The actual study used “in vitro” as well as live cells and showed a moderate protective value. However, because there is no astaxanthin normally found in the retina, one has to wonder if this protection would occur naturally.

The blog mentions that although astaxanthin is found in seafood, “therapeutic amounts of this carotenoid cannot be obtained through diet alone, rendering supplementation necessary. As our society becomes more technologically dependent – which seems to be inevitable – the consequences of technology also become unavoidable, making the need for powerful antioxidants such as astaxanthin more critical than ever.”

Again, the tie-in for astaxanthin as a protective antioxidant is questionable, especially for those who use digital devices.

Now, I will acknowledge the positive effects of astaxanthin in many instances, but most of the research involves muscle tissue, where much of the natural astaxanthin resides. So, yes, if we’re talking about “eyestrain” and other muscle issues related to eye function, astaxanthin might certainly play a role. But let’s not stretch the science where we make leaps of assumptions where the science is left out in the cold.

References:

Astaxanthin for the Eyes? http://blog.designsforhealth.com/blog/bid/200629/Astaxanthin-for-the-Eyes?utm_campaign=Weekly+Science+Update&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=13810152&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9leR6MkoALM91LkusiP7PWrCgRwCsncrgq4xY3055efoAdzv5p5FYmg458_gGMexXiRm3Lrvrs1XlXsyPg3ydkwXoP7A&_hsmi=13810152. Posted August 12, 2014. Accessed August 21, 2014

Balci M, et al. Mol Vis. 2009;15:2521-2525; http://www.molvis.org/molvis/v15/a270/.

Lennikov A, et al. Mol Vis. 2012;18:455-464; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22393271.

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Reduce screen time. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/wecan/reduce-screen-time/. Posted February 13, 2013. Accessed August 21, 2014.