Nutrition News

Dry eye is considered the most common treatable eye condition, affecting as many as 33 million Americans to various degrees. The causes of dry eye are numerous, including hormones, nutrition, systemic disease and LASIK. As more is learned about this multifaceted condition, practitioners are able to approach its treatment on many different levels.

Clinical studies have shown a correlation between nutrition and some ocular diseases, but these data do not apply uniformly to all ocular maladies. While nutrition has been definitively linked to age-related macular degeneration, clinical findings on diseases such as glaucoma are comparatively sparse.

The role of nutritional supplements in suppressing and combating various ocular diseases is an ambiguous one, as clinical findings have alternately supported and negated their significance.

Linda Casser, OD, FAAO, is a member of the Editorial Board of Primary Care Optometry News and is associate dean for Academic Programs at Pacific University College of Optometry in Forest Grove, Ore.

LA JOLLA, Calif. — Ophthalmologist and nutrition expert Steven G. Pratt, MD, emphasizes to his patients that if they want to experience the benefits afforded by increasing their consumption of lutein, zeaxanthin and other carotenoids, vitamins B, C and E, they should increase their intake of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. He considers nutritional supplements just that — supplements to a diet already rich in beneficial vitamins and minerals. But even he admits that as people get older, the variety and consumption of their food decreases, putting them at even greater nutritional risk than the average adult, and making them perfect candidates for ocular supplements.

Dr. Richer: We have a plethora of emerging therapeutic options available to us as we enter the next millennium. In addition to submacular surgery and photodynamic therapy, other therapies that will become available in just the next few years include:

For many older patients, developing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a frightening experience. Particularly in the case of AMD, patients may feel powerless and frustrated with the disease, which is slowly chipping away at their visual acuity.

Source: Mangles AR, et al. Carotenoid content of fruits and vegetables: An evaluation of analytic data. J Am Diet Assoc. 1993; 93:284-296.

Exactly why age-related macular degeneration (AMD) develops is not known, and no treatment thus far has been steadily effective. Disputed theories suggest that supplemental vitamins, minerals and antioxidants may slow the progression of the dry form of AMD and stabilize the eye.

Srinivas Natrajan, DVM, PhD, OD, FAAO: Zinc, an essential trace element, is one of the most commonly found elements in the human body. It is a component of numerous enzyme systems, including ocular tissues, which in turn play an important role in the metabolism of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates.