Bilberry, The Plant and Berry That Cure Dry Eye, Scientists Discover

By Kyle J. Norton

On seeking natural therapy with no side effects, scientists may have found a herbal fruit for the cure of dry eye, according to studies.

Dry eye is a condition characterized by a lack of quality tears to lubricate and nourish the eye for clear vision.

In other words, dry eye is a condition caused by an imbalance of tear production and drainage or low-quality tear production. The condition is very common in the elderly.

There are certain risk factors that may affect the levels of quality of tears, such as aging (most senior age 65 and over have experience of dry eye), gender (the risk of dry eye is higher in women due to the change of hormone as a result of pregnancy and menopause), medications and long term of use of contact lens.

According to the statistics, in the United States, dry eye affects over 4.88 million Americans age 50 and older. The syndrome is most common in the population of middle-aged or older.

Although it is rare, untreated dry eye or serious dry eye syndrome has been associated with the risk of infection, leading to scarring, thinning, and even perforation of the cornea.

People with dry eye may experience symptoms of burning or scratchy sensation, stringy mucus in the eyes, eye redness and sensitivity to light.

Some people with a severe condition may have difficulty with nighttime driving.

If you have experienced some of the aforementioned symptoms, please check with your doctor to rule out the possibility for preventive measure.

Bilberry is a species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, belonging to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern Europe.

The plant berry has been used as herbs in traditional medicine for the treatment of acute and chronic diarrhea, gastritis, gastric ulcer, and duodenal ulcer, enterocolitis, ulcerative colitis, anemia, cystitis, kidney disease, and psoriasis, diabetes, etc.

Researchers on finding a natural ingredient for the treatment of dry eye, a chronic disease of lachrymal fluid and cornea-conjunctival epithelium examined the bioavailability of a standardized bilberry extract in an animal model.

The study included 22 otherwise healthy subjects suffering from dry eye symptoms who were enrolled randomly assigned to receive the more bioavailable bilberry extract or placebo.

Out of 22 participants,11 subjects in the bilberry extract (Mirtoselect®) group and 10 subjects in the placebo group completed the clinical study. 

According to the results of the assay analysis, bilberry extract showed a significant improvement in the volume of tear secretion compared to no change in the placebo group.

Mirtoselect® also was more effective in subjects with a higher tendency of dry eye.

The efficacy of bilberry in the treatment of dry eye was attributed to the stimulation of the production of antioxidant enzymes in the host and suppression of the overexpression of free radicals found in the dry eye participants.

Dr. Riva A the lead scientists suggested that bilberry extract can improve tear secretion and plasmatic antioxidant potential in subjects suffering from DED symptoms.

Taken altogether, bilberry processed abundantly bioactive compounds may be considered a natural remedy for the treatment of dry eye with no side effects, pending to the validation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(1) The effect of a natural, standardized bilberry extract (Mirtoselect®) in dry eye: a randomized, double blinded, placebo-controlled trial by Riva A1, Togni S, Franceschi F, Kawada S, Inaba Y, Eggenhoffner R, Giacomelli L. (PubMed)