"Green Tea May Help Fight Glaucoma and Other Eye Diseases" was recently reported in ScienceDaily and received a lot of press coverage.  So what's the real story? 

Green tea 'catechins' are in the anti-oxidant family, just like lutein and zeaxanthin two products used in the preventive treatment of macular degeneration.  The study demonstrated in laboratory rats a group of these substances were absorbed from the gut and detected in eye tissues.

It is unknown whether the substances are absorbed in humans, concentrate in the human eye tissues or have any benefit in glaucoma.

So for now, enjoy your green tea and come see one of our fine MEA Doctors for your yearly exam which includes several different screening tests for glaucoma.

Michael Starrels, MD

Did you know that aspen trees have eyes? And not just two, but many of them? The eyes are the result of self-pruning, or atrophy, and the falling off of branches as the trees race upwards toward the sun. Here is a gorgeous example I saw on my recent trip to Utah.

Ilya Rozenbaum MD

Lead-based eye makeup used by ancient Egyptians appears to have had antibacterial mechanisms that may have helped prevent common infections, said researchers from Paris' École Normale Supérieure in a news report.

In a study originally published in Analytical Chemistry, Christian Amatore, Ph.D., and colleagues used electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction to assess 52 samples from containers of preserved makeup at the Louvre. 

The makeup consisted primarily of four lead-based chemicals: galena, cerussite, laurionite, and phosgenite, the researchers said in the news report. Due to deterioration of the makeup samples over the centuries, the researchers were unable to identify what percent of the makeup was lead.

The researchers contend that during periods in which the Nile River flooded, the population was particularly vulnerable to infections caused by particles that entered the eye, causing inflammation. 

The dosage of lead in the makeup was a key factor in its potential benefits, Dr. Amatore said in the news report.

Source: Latif, E., & Dalton, M. (2010). Lead-based eye makeup may have fought infection in ancient Egypt. EyeWorld Week, 15(4). Retrieved from http://www.eyeworld.org/ewweek.php?id=578#7

Research shows that most Americans are depleted of Omega-3 fatty acids.  This is mainly due to changes in our diet over the past hundred years.  Many Omega-3 rich foods, such as wild game, are not commonly eaten anymore.  A lot of wild plants contain high levels of Omega-3s; however, most of the vegetables and grains we eat today have little or no Omega-3s. Finally, our fish consumption in the Western Hemisphere has declined dramatically in recent years, and fish are the major source of the most important Omega-3s, EPA and DHA. 

This lack of EPA and DHA places us at risk for chronic inflammation, which is the root cause for countless illnesses and conditions including Dry Eye Syndrome and Age-Related Macular Degeneration.  Since almost all fish carry some contamination (e.g., mercury, PCBs, dioxins), the safest and most efficient way to consume the required daily amounts of EPA and DHA is with an Omega-3 supplement that is guaranteed to be contamination free such as the PRN brand that is sold at Matossian Eye Associates. 

Melissa Richard, OD, MS

Most of us learned the Davenport model for determining eye color. This model suggests brown eye color is always dominant over blue eye color, so the theory is that two blue-eyed parents could not have a child with brown eyes. But according to Richard A. Sturm, a Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, two blue-eyed parents can produce a child with brown eyes.

Eye color is a complex trait that depends on several interacting genes. The gene that usually decides eye color is the OCA2 gene on chromosome 15. Sturm's theory is that this gene comes in different "strengths". A person with a weak form of the OCA2 gene will have blue eyes, whereas a person with a strong form will have brown eyes.

But the story doesn't end there. An individual also has other eye-color genes that have a say in the final color. If one of these lesser genes is strong, it can make the weak form (blue) of OCA2 work much more effectively "” almost like the strong form (brown). In this case the eye color could be any shade of brown, hazel/green, or blue, depending on the strengths of the interactions. Enjoy your unique eye color!

Melissa Richard, OD, MS