Contrast to General Belief, Bilberry Can Not Improve Night Vision in Healthy Individuals

By Kyle J. Norton


Vision is a process of detecting light patterns from the outside world and projecting them into images that allow us to see.

Reduced vision is the partial loss of vision, either temporary or permanent. 

Night vision is the ability to see in low-light conditions, particularly at the night time

There are some risk factors associated with a reduced night vision, including vitamin A deficiency, people with cataracts, a condition of clouding of the lens in the eye, people with diabetes and eye surgery complications.

Some researchers suggested that people with certain gene inherited from the parent may have better night vision compared to those without.

According to the Scripps Research Institute in the examination of how a particular gene makes night vision possible, published in the August 10, 2011 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, nyctalopin coordinates the assembly and precise delivery to the synapse of the macromolecular complex consisting of mGluR6, a neurotransmitter receptor protein, which directly communicates with rod photoreceptors and TRPM1, a protein channel that generates the response, making vision possible.

These may be the reason that some people can see better than others in a low light condition

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


The plant 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.

Searching the list of natural compounds for the treatment of poor night vision, researchers reviewed placebo-controlled trials of V. myrtillus-extracted anthocyanosides for evidence of positive effects on night vision.

According to the standard guidelines and criteria, 30 trials with outcome measures relevant to vision in reduced light were selected for the review.

According to healthy subjects with normal or above average eyesight tested in 11 of the 12 trials, injection of V. myrtillus anthocyanosides improves normal night vision.

However, due to the lack of rigorous research into the effects of the extract on subjects suffering impaired night vision due to pathological eye conditions, researchers suggested that further trials of V. myrtillus anthocyanosides in subjects with impaired night vision.

In a study included 6 young normal volunteers randomly assigned to one of four different regimens of single oral administrations of 12, 24 and 36 mg of anthocyanosides, and a placebo, with a 2 week washout period between doses.

According to the 3-night vision tests: full-field scotopic retinal threshold (SRT), dark adaptation rate (DAR) and mesopic contrast sensitivity (MCS) conducted by the Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, a single oral administration of 12, 24 or 36 mg anthocyanosides after 24 hours.

These results that single oral administration of 12-36 mg of anthocyanosides does not have a significant effect on militarily relevant night vision tests.

Taken altogether, bilberry although showed a significant improvement of the eyesights caused by visual degeneration and diabetic complication, however, it can not improve night vision in healthy individuals.

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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) Anthocyanosides of Vaccinium myrtillus (bilberry) for night vision--a systematic review of placebo-controlled trials by Canter PH1, Ernst E. (PubMed)
(2) The effect of anthocyanosides on night vision by Levy Y1, Glovinsky Y. (PubMed)
(3) How a particular gene makes night vision possible by Scripps Research Institute. (Science Daily)