Eye diseases
Myopia, or nearsightedness, manifests as distant blur, while near vision remains relatively unaffected. It is caused by the eye focusing an image short of the retina at back of the eye. There are three components that determine the eyes' focusing behavior: the cornea, the lens and the length of the eye. The cornea, the clear part of the eye on the front surface, bends 70-80% of the incoming light into the eye. The lens, located inside the eye behind the cornea, is responsible for fine focusing and bends 20-30% of the incoming light. The eye length, from front to back, can also affect where the light focuses. If the eye is too long, the light focuses in front of retina causing myopia, if the eye is too short, it causes hyperopia, or far sightedness. Myopia is rarely linked with headaches or eyestrain, as the eyes are naturally focused for near vision. However, if myopia is combined with astigmatism, one experiences headache.
There are two schools of thought regarding progression of myopia. The geneticist school believes that myopia is 100% inherited. The environmentalist school believes myopia is 100% environmentally induced. They feel use of the eyes for prolonged, repeated periods such as reading or computer use, stretches the eye and causes nearsightedness.
Myopia affects those mostly between ages of 10 and 40. Beyond 45 years of age myopia tends to decrease.
With high myopia (-6.00 and up) one is at increased risk of glaucoma, retinal detachments and posterior vitreous detachments, so annual follow-up is recommended for those individuals.
Far-sightedness (Hyperopia) : Farsightedness (hyperopia) results when structural defects in the eye cause our vision to be blurry. If you are farsighted, you see distant objects more clearly than close objects, though both near and distant vision may be affected, and you may have trouble focusing when performing tasks such as reading or sewing. Although these defects (such as a shorter eyeball or a flat cornea) are often present early in life, normal development and lengthening of the eyeball during early childhood usually corrects the condition.
As you age, your eyes lose ability to change shape of lens to focus on near objects (accommodation). Farsightedness is often first noticed after age 40 when eyes begin to lose their ability to accommodate. The age-related decline in focusing power, called presbyopia, makes farsightedness more apparent.
What causes farsightedness ?
Farsightedness occurs when light entering the eye focuses behind retina instead of directly on it (refractive error). This happens when an eye is too short lengthwise, the cornea is not curved enough, or the lens sits farther back in the eye than normal.
Farsightedness often runs in families. In rare instances, diseases such as retinopathy, eye tumors and lens dislocation also contribute to development of farsightedness.
What are the symptoms of farsightedness ?
Symptoms of farsightedness include blurred vision, difficulty seeing objects up close, aching eyes, eyestrain and headaches.Children with this condition may have no symptoms. A child with more severe farsightedness gets headaches or rubs his or her eyes often.
Astigmatism : It may accompany nearsightedness or farsightedness. Usually it is caused by an irregularly shaped cornea (called corneal astigmatism). But sometimes, it is the result of an irregularly shaped lens, located behind the cornea; this is called lenticular astigmatism.
Astigmatism Symptoms and Signs : If you have only a small amount of astigmatism, you may not notice it or have just slightly blurred vision. But sometimes, uncorrected astigmatism gives you headaches or eyestrain and distorts or blurs our vision at all distances.
Causes : Astigmatism occurs when cornea is shaped more like an oblong football than a spherical baseball, which is the normal shape. In most astigmatic eyes, the oblong or oval shape causes light rays to focus on two points in the back of our eye, rather than on just one.
Usual astigmatism is hereditary : Many people are borne with an oblong cornea, and the resulting vision problem may get worse over time. But astigmatism also results from an eye injury that has caused scarring on the cornea, from certain types of eye surgery, or from keratoconus, a disease that causes a gradual thinning of the cornea.
Strabismus : Inability of the eyes to focus together because of an imbalance in the muscles that control eye movement; also called squint. It is a consequence of weakness or uneven development of one or more of the six small muscles that surround the eye. One or both eyes may be affected. Horizontal strabismus is caused when the eyes do not move together laterally; this condition is known as cross-eye, if the eye turn inward or wall eye if the eye turn outward. Vertical strabismus results when the eye rolls upward or downward in its socket. There is also torsional strabismus in which the eyes do not rotate together about their optical axes. Strabismus is usually present at birth and becomes apparent early in infancy, but it also results from illness or injury. Because the condition results in perception of a double image, there is a tendency to use only one eye. It is important that treatment be started as soon as possible to prevent loss of sight in the unused eye.
Night blindness (Poor Night Vision) : People with night blindness (also called impaired dark adaptation) typically see poorly in the darkness but see normally when adequate amounts of light are present. This condition unless accompanied by other eye pathology does not usually involve true blindness, even at night.
Night blindness may be an early sign of vitamin A deficiency. Such a deficiency results from diets low in animal foods (the main source of vitamin A), such as eggs, dairy products, organ meats, and some fish. Low intake of fruits and vegetables containing beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A, may also contribute to a vitamin A deficiency. Occasionally, night blindness can be an early symptom of a progressive eye disease. One example is retinitis pigmentosa (RP)
Dietary zinc deficiency is common, and a lack of zinc reduces the activity of retinol dehydrogenase, an enzyme needed to help vitamin A work in the eye. Zinc helps night blindness in people who are zinc-deficient Macular degeneration.
Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) is a disease that causes progressive damage to the macula. Macula is the central part of the retina that allows us to see fine details. When the macula degenerates, people experiences blurring or darkness in the center of their vision and tasks like reading and driving are affected. The words on a page may look blurred, a dark or empty area may appear in the center of vision, or straight lines may look distorted.
There are two forms of macular degeneration :
- Dry (atrophic) Macular Degeneration
- Wet (neovascular / exudative) Macular Degeneration
Risk Factors for Macular Degeneration
Aging - Approximately 10% of patients, 66 to 74 years of age, will have symptoms of macular degeneration. The prevalence increases to 30% in patients 75 to 85 years of age.
Smoking - The only environmental exposure clearly associated with macular degeneration is tobacco smoking. Not only does smoking increase the risk of macular degeneration development, current or ex-smokers cannot take the vitamin supplements that have beta carotene because the risk of lung cancer increases if they do so. Beta carotene vitamin supplements help in slowing macular degeneration.
Family history of macular degeneration - Macular degeneration appears to be hereditary in a few families but not in others. Approximately one fourth of all late-stage macular degeneration appears to have a genetic basis. The lifetime risk of developing late-stage macular degeneration is 50% for people who have a relative with macular degeneration vs 12% for people who's relatives do not have macular degeneration, i.e a four fold higher risk. People who have first-degree relatives with late-stage macular degeneration develop macular degeneration at an increased rate at a relatively young age.
Role of Noni
Scientists found that people at high risk of developing advanced stages of AMD, a leading cause of vision loss, lowered their risk by about 25% when treated with a high-dose combination of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene and zinc. In the same high risk group which includes people with intermediate AMD, or advanced AMD in one eye but not the other eye the nutrients reduced the risk of vision loss caused by advanced AMD by about 19%. Noni is rich in vit A, beta carotenoids, vita E, vit C, vit E, vit B complex, with all trace elements like Ca, Mg, K, Zn, Molybdenum etc, all flavonoids and besides that Noni contains more than 150 phytonutrients. Those ingredients being present in one fruit have made the Noni, a most powerful antioxidant.
The primary causes of cloudy vision or poor night vision are free radical damage. Some of these free radicals form in the retina due to a variety of reasons -- such as exposure to the sun, eating too much saturated fats and smoking -- and then proceed to impair crucial cellular material, responsible for the functioning of healthy vision. Noni having the super anti oxidant properties helps to prevent our eyes from the destructive activity of free radicals. Noni fights free radicals in three ways (I) it prevents a free radical from forming. (II) it can interrupt an oxidizing chain reaction to lessen the effects of free radicals. (III) it can reduce the free radical's impact. Thus regular taking of Noni helps to protect our eyes and prevents various eye defects.
Lutein and Zeaxanthine : These powerful botanical antioxidants are renowned for protecting the light sensitive cells of the retina and the macular-eye cells (which control central part of what we see and sharpness of our vision). Experts discovered a healthy macular eye contains a high concentration of these powerful antioxidants which filter out blue light (one of the most damaging parts of the light spectrum because of its short wavelength) before it damages retina. Lutein and Zeaxanthine also protect our eyes from age-related macular degeneration. Noni contains these two antioxidants in natural form. Regular using of Noni protects our eyes and prevents many eye diseases.
L-Taurine : A nutritional amino acid, which strengthens and stabilizes delicate light sensitive eye cells.L-Taurine in addition protects “photo receptor” cells from damaging effects of bright lights and the suns ultra violet radiation, thereby helping our vision stay clearer longer. Noni contains this nutritional amino acids and also all essential amino acids and thus protects the photo receptor cells of our eyes
Vitamin A : This essential vitamin is crucial in maintaining clear vision particularly in poor light. Night blindness or problems seeing at night are usually the first sign of a vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A also works with Zinc to keep the lens of our eyes clear and healthy. Low levels of vitamin A make the lens of the eye very susceptible to free radical damage and cataract formation. Noni is rich in vit A and beta carotenoids. It also contains many trace minerals and zinc is one among them. Hence regular use of Noni prevents formation of cataract and developing night blindness.
Vitamin E : This essential antioxidant vitamin works with vitamin C to protect your eyes and vital eye circulation. Vitamin E helps fight cataracts by stabilizing lens cell membranes. A vitamin E deficiency is associated with cataracts in people with diabetes. Noni is rich in vitamin E.
Vitamin C : This essential antioxidant vitamin enhances function of other nutrients essential to eye health including vitamins A and E. Vitamin C also neutralizes toxic free radicals responsible for eye deterioration. Vitamin C deficiency leads to an inability of the eyes to produce adequate tears and may play a role in cataract formation. Noni contains abundant amount of vitamins C and E.
Recommended Dosage
Divine Noni Concentrate
5ml morning and 5ml evening for 3 days. Then
10ml morning and 10ml evening for next 3 days. Then
15ml morning and 15ml evening for next 8 months.
