Dr. Grossman’s Blog

“Floaters” are those small dark shapes that appear before your eyes and float through your field of vision.  Floaters are often the result of vitreous tears or detachments often experienced by seniors, but for some these clumps of protein can be the result of candidiasis, an overgrowth of the yeast-like fungus Candida albicans. Antibiotics, birth control pills, and an improper diet can all lead to candidiasis. The best way to start to counteract yeast overgrowth and the eye floaters and other health issues that this condition can cause is by eliminating sugar and yeast containing foods from the diet and introducing probiotics.

In an analysis of the genes of more than 1,000 patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), an international team of scientists discovered a strong association between the vision problem and the presence of a new gene.

The new gene connection is with hepatic lipase gene LIPC, a critical enzyme in the metabolism of high-density lipoprotein (HDL). The study also noted strong associations between advanced AMD and other single nucleotide polymorphisms in the same lipid pathway, but the other finding showed a much stronger, genome-wide significance.

Abstract Title: Genome-Wide Association Study of Advanced Age-Related Macular Degeneration Identifies a New Susceptibility Locus in the Lipid Metabolism Pathway, Hepatic Lipase (LIPC)

For information on natural ways to help preserve vision for those with macular degeneration, Click Here

Study shows supplementing with zeaxanthin (a carotenoid in the lutein family) can raises macula pigment optical density (MP) and has unique visual benefits for patients with atrophic early AMD having visual symptoms.

Zeaxanthin can be found in dark, leafy greens (like turnip greens, collard greens, kale, spinach and romaine lettuce). Orange peppers are the highest source of zeaxanthin.

The Zeaxanthin and Visual Function Study in Atrophic Age Related Macular Degeneration (ZVF-FDA IND #78,973) – MP and Foveal Shape Discrimination: S.P. Richer1, W. Stiles1, M. Lavin, K. Graham1, C. Thomas1, D. Park3. J. Nyland1, J Wrobel

For more related studies, click on the “Research” link at www.naturaleyecare.com

Many research studies show the value of supplementing with lutein and zeaxanthin in helping to preserve vision for those with macular degeneration. Additional studies show mesozeaxanthin (a member of the lutein family), as an essential nutrient for helping preserve vision for those with macular degeneration, used in the eyes as an antioxidant in the center of the macular where our detailed vision comes from.

The referenced study is one of 3 completed to date demonstrating the value of supplementing with this mesozeaxanthin.

Nutrition & Metabolism 2007, 4:12doi:10.1186/1743-7075-4-12

For more information on related research, go to http://www.naturaleyecare.com/studies_bydisease.asp?s_num=8&disease=Macular+Degeneration

A vitamin E packed contact lens has the potential of preserving the vision of people being treated for glaucoma. While the contact lens can’t repair damage that has been done, it can prevent any further decline in vision.

Typically open angle glaucoma is treated with eyedrops.  The new contact lenses would allow for a slow release of the medication and hold the medicines in place which would allow for the medicine to reach the targeted areas within the eye.

Vitamin E is the mighty component that allows for this slow release of the medication. Not only does the Vitamin E aid in delivering the medication to the eye, it also has the added benefit of protecting the eye from sun damage, since ultra-violet radiation is blocked by Vitamin E.

The trials so far have been done on animals, but shows promise for human use.

Editor’s Note: For natural ways to help preserve vision for those with glaucoma or at a high risk for getting glaucoma, go to www.naturaleyecare.com/glaucoma

Bionic Vision Australia (BVA) has unveiled its wide-view neurostimulator concept – a prototype bionic eye that will be implanted into Australia’s first recipient of the technology. BVA says that the prototype will deliver improved quality of life for patients suffering from degenerative vision loss caused by retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. The implant, which consists of a miniature camera mounted on glasses that captures visual input, transforming it into electrical signals that directly stimulate surviving neurons in the retina, is currently undergoing testing. Says BVA, the device will enable recipients to perceive points of light in the visual field that the brain can then reconstruct into an image.

For more information, go to www.bionicvision.org.au

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

A new study, known as Meso-zeaxanthin ocular supplementation trial (MOST), begins in late March 2010 and the clinical research team are currently recruiting suitable candidates. The specialists involved in the trial are research experts in this area of eye disease. The trial requires 60 patients who have been diagnosed with early AMD. After a complimentary eye screening by an IVR Ophthalmologist, suitable candidates will be enrolled into the trial and provided with a 12-month course of dietary supplements containing the macular pigments.

For further information on AMD or on the MOST trial being conducted at the Institute of Vision Research, please contact: Eithne Connolly, Clinical Research Technician, on 051 302153 or at eithneativr.ie

Editor’s Note: Recent studies have shown that mesozeaxanthin is another carotenoid in the family of lutein and zeaxanthin essential for macular degeneration, and is used as an antioxidant directly in the center of the retina. Hopefully this study will further confirm that this nutrient along with a family of other essential nutrients helps preserve vision for those with macular degeneration. For more related studies, Click Here

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: For more related information on nutrition and glaucoma, go to www.naturaleyecare.com/glaucoma

Click on the link below for a short inteview done by Leslie Degner, RN, BSN with Dr. Grossman regarding eye exercises related to healthy vision and macular degeneration:

http://www.webrn-maculardegeneration.com/free-eye-exercises.html

Editor’s Note: For Dr. Grossman’s free eye exercise e-booklet, go to http://www.naturaleyecare.com/eye-sample.asp

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.

It is estimated that between 40 and 50% of Americans diagnosed with diabetes already have some stage of diabetic retinopathy, according to the National Institutes of Health.

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.

Editor’s Note: For an excellent whole food eye formula with Pine Bark Extract, see Dr. Grossman’s Advanced Eye and Vision Support