Curcumin has been implicated in the treatment of certain eye dis- eases and conditions, including chronic anterior uveitis, an inflam- matory condition of the vascular layer, particularly the iris. In a small study, curcumin (375 mg t.i.d.) was administered orally for 12 weeks to 32 patients with chronic anterior uveitis. The participants were divided into two groups; the first received only curcumin while the second was treated with a combination of curcumin and antituber- cular therapy. All patients treated with curcumin alone improved, compared with a response rate of 86% among those receiving the combination therapy (42).

My original expectation was that elevated intraocular pressure would respond to herbs (and vitamins) in the same way every other physical complaint I had encountered in my life responded.

My initial strategy for managing my IOP was a strategy built on herbs and supplements. That strategy was a complete 100% total failure.

Cure for glaucoma soon, says new research
newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-125456.html

October 6th, 2009 SindhToday
Toronto, Oct 6 (IANS) Cure for glaucoma which leads to blindness may be on its way.

Canadian researchers have discovered an unidentified form of circulation in the human eye which may provide important clues to glaucoma.

The human eye is considered to lack lymphatics – a circulation responsible for pumping fluid and waste out of tissues.

But now researchers at the Universityof Toronto and the local St Michael’s Hospital say the inability to clear that fluid from the eye is linked to glaucoma which currently affects over 66 million people worldwide.

What are the best supplements For Treating Glaucoma, or for general Eye health?? I have had glaucoma since 2001, and since last year i have had to increase My Trusopts drops from 2 to 3 per day. I'm very frustrated about this. can You suggest any vitamins that are specifically for Glaucoma or For general eye health? Is there any known reversal for OPTIC NERVE DAMMAGE? Thank you very much for your help. Sincerely John

Ayurveda, India’s traditional 'science of life,' has the remedy for swine flu in the form of the basil leaves commonly known as Tulsi.

Tulsi is well known in India for its remarkable healing properties. But the anti-flu property of Tulsi has been discovered by medical experts across the world quite recently. Tulsi improves your body's overall defense mechanism, including its ability to fight viral diseases.
Apart from acting as a preventive medicine, Tulsi can also help a patient recover faster

See http://in.news.yahoo.com/242/20090812/1512/tls-indian-natural-herb-tulsi...

Oxidative stress has been implicated in the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells in the optic nerve in glaucoma. Antioxidants protect against oxidative stress and are therefore considered important in neuroprotection strategies. Turmeric has been shown to be an effective antioxidant. For background info about oxidative stress and glaucoma, see this article: Glaucoma, Inflammation and Oxidative Stress: An Attempt to Unify Recent News

Oral consumption of Ginkgo biloba led to a higher survival rate of optic nerve cells (retinal ganglion cells). The effect was dosage-dependent - the higher concentrations of Ginkgo resulted in higher optic nerve cell survival rates. The dosages of Ginkgo were comparable to those an average person could safely consume.

Dosage dependence of the effect of Ginkgo biloba on the rat retinal ganglion cell survival after optic nerve crush - Abstract 

David what do you think of this abstract?

You will need three items to get started:

1. glass eye cups (quantity two) [product choices: here and here]

2. empty tea bags [product choices here and here and here]

3. triphala powder [here]

I put about 1/4 tsp of the triphala powder in a tea bag and steep in about a half a cup of boiling water. I let it sit for about 5 minutes.

Does Licorice Increase Intraocular Pressure? I attempted to answer this question for a friend today.

Here is the information I have so far:

1. Glycyrrhizin is the main sweet tasting compound from liquorice root.

2. A derivative of glycyrrhizin is glycyrrhetinic acid.

3. Glycyrrhetinic acid inhibits 11β-HSD1 (11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1; 11βHSD1 is an NADPH-
dependent enzyme highly expressed in the liver and adipose tissue).

4. Selective and topical inhibitors of 11ß-HSD1 could provide a novel treatment for patients with glaucoma due to their ability to lower intraocular pressure. (See below.)

The information in the Review of Ophthalmology article by August L. Reader III, MD, FACS, San Francisco, is very interesting. However, as you read it keep in mind that what is presented is a mix of strongly supported evidence and speculation. For example, section on carrot-family herbs contains a lot of pure speculation. It is still interesting and I have presented a portion of the article here.

Click this link to read the whole article: http://www.revophth.com/index.asp?page=1_479.htm

In normotensive rabbits topical application of Daucus carota seed extract at the concentration of 0.3, 0.6 and 1.2% resulted in mean IOP reduction of 19.33. 23.20 and 25.61% respectively from baseline.

As no significant difference was observed between the change in IOP in 0.6 and 1.2% extract treated groups, 0.6% concentration was chosen for further evaluation in rabbits with experimentally elevated IOP.

In water loaded rabbits, maximum mean IOP reduction with 0.6% extract was 29.39%, which was comparable to pilocarpine. In steroid pretreated rabbits, maximum mean IOP reduction was 30.27% from baseline, which was significantly higher than pilocarpine.

The Ayurvedic herb saffron may hold one of the keys to preventing the loss of sight in old age – and may even help to improve vision in people suffering certain blinding eye diseases.

Research by Professor Silvia Bisti of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science (The Vision Centre) and University of L’Aquila, Italy, has established that saffron has remarkable effects on the genes which regulate the performance of the eye’s key vision cells.

I eat the spice turmeric almost every day. My favorite way to consume it is to use the fresh root in my cooking. If I do not have fresh turmeric root available, I'll use organic turmeric root powder and mix it in with my food (or even sprinkle a little on top if I'm not cooking).

I am reading an interesting article: TREATMENT OF GLAUCOMA WITH CHINESE HERBS by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon

The article quotes the recent compendium English-Chinese Encyclopedia of Practical Traditional Chinese Medicine (4), in which Volume 17 is devoted to ophthalmology. As to cause of open-angle glaucoma, it says:

Emotional depression of a person may cause stagnation of liver qi that will turn into fire. When the fire goes upward to attack the eyes, the disease occurs. Or, if a person suffers from retention of dampness due to hypofunction of the spleen, phlegm will originate from the retention and form phlegm stagnation which will further convert into fire. When the fire moves upward to attack the eye, the disease is caused. Besides, deficiency of the liver and kidney, a condition called consumption of primordial yin, will result in asthenic fire, and attack of the eye by the fire will lead to the disease.

Aggarwal BB, Harikumar KB:

Potential therapeutic effects of curcumin, the anti-inflammatory agent, against neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic, autoimmune and neoplastic diseases.

Int J Biochem Cell Biol 2008;

Cytokine Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United
States.

Ancient treatments are ignored because neither their active component nor
their molecular targets are well defined. For centuries it has been known
that turmeric exhibits anti-inflammatory activity, but extensive research
performed within the past two decades has shown that the this activity of
turmeric is due to curcumin, a diferuloylmethane. This agent has been shown
to regulate numerous transcription factors, cytokines, protein kinases,
adhesion molecules, redox status and enzymes that have been linked to
inflammation. The process of inflammation has been shown to play a major
role in most chronic illnesses, including neurodegenerative, cardiovascular,
pulmonary, metabolic, autoimmune and neoplastic diseases. In the current
review, we provide evidence for the potential role of curcumin in the
prevention and treatment of various proinflammatory chronic diseases. These
features, combined with the pharmacological safety and negligible cost,
render curcumin an attractive agent to explore further.

 By Soutik Biswas 

BBC News, Delhi 
In a quiet government office in the Indian capital, Delhi, some 100 doctors are hunched over computers poring over ancient medical texts and keying in information.

These doctors are practitioners of ayurveda, unani and siddha, ancient Indian medical systems that date back thousands of years.