optic nerve

Optic nerve cells require vitamin C in order to function properly. Henrique von Gersdorff, Ph.D., a senior scientist at OHSU's Vollum Institute and a co-author of a new study showing how essential vitamin C is in retinal nerve cells had this to say:

We found that cells in the retina need to be 'bathed' in relatively high doses of vitamin C, inside and out, to function properly.

There was a big surprise for me as I have had today my eye HRT exam. I decided to do the HRT after two months after the recent test as I was curious whether there was any effect from the changes which I have seen in my IOPs (which originated about two months ago).

Quite unexpectedly for me the scan of my eye nerve is, I believe, showing improvement. I haven't discussed this with my doc yet as I have a scheduled visit for next month. BTW my state today when taking the eye exam was far from perfect: I had higher than usual IOP due to a nasty cold and stuffed sinuses.

Regular use of traditional dietary spices such as turmeric in one's cooking may be important for glaucoma patients. The use of complete spices (e.g., turmeric rather than curcumin, which is an isolated fraction of turmeric) is important as well as the use of multiple complimentary spices according to long-established wisdom such as found in Ayurveda. Still, the research backing up anti-oxidant properties of turmeric is a useful read.

There was an interesting article on BBC today about recent advances in neuroprotection for glaucoma. Here are some highlights from the article:

Lead researcher Dr Stefano Bonini said: "Although neuroprotection in glaucoma has already been attempted with several compounds, this is the first time that an improvement in visual function is observed in patients with advanced optic nerve damage."

David Wright, chief executive of the International Glaucoma Association, warned against drawing firm conclusions from such a small study - but said the results were encouraging.

He said: "There have been many false dawns in the search for neuro-protective agents for the treatment of glaucoma and it is a feature of research on other compounds that early promise does not always translate into clinical effectiveness when larger studies are undertaken.

"However, this research would seem to indicate both effectiveness and acceptability as to the means of drug delivery.

"If these early indications are carried through to wider trials and there are no other problems, then this has the potential to open a completely new method of treating glaucoma and of preventing unnecessary visual loss in the future."