Eye Pressure

In 2006 I wrote about the news that Ocufors, a plant-based pharmaceutical product for glaucoma, had received regulatory approval from India's equivalent of the US FDA (the Drugs Controller General of India - DCGI).

Ocufors is a natural, plant-derived product that has been found to be 30% more effective at reducing intraocular pressure than existing glaucoma drugs, according to its manufacturer.

Makandi (Coleus forskholii) is one of the most broadly useful herbs of Ayurveda, but until recently it was not well-known in the West. So wide-ranging are its therapeutic applications that it has been called a pharmacopaea in a single plant.

Dr. Michael Ashworth says, "The myths that masturbation leads to blindness, or causes you to grow hair on the palms of your hands, or will cause someone to be impotent later in life, or leads to mental illness, have all been debunked many times; but they seem to have a life of their own and crop up again and again."

Experts in the Ayurvedic medical system tell us that the source of all disease and suffering is "the mistake of the intellect" ("pragyaparadh" in Sanskrit). What is "the mistake of the intellect" and how does it relate to health, vision and intraocular pressure?

Dr. Ram Kant Mishra, an Ayurvedic physician, says the mistake of the intellect "occurs when individuals -- or even single cells -- 'forget' their connection with the wholeness of life and believe themselves to be isolated entities."