By Bonnie Jenkins, Advanced Natural Medicine

Just imagine having an eyelash – or worse, a grain of sand – permanently stuck in your eye. The itching, burning, blurry vision, redness and constant irritation would be enough to drive you nuts!

Personally, I’m not sure I could handle it. Yet more than eight million Americans, most of them women, suffer with this feeling day in and day out. The culprit – dry eye syndrome. And, short of surgically plugging the tear ducts, there isn’t much conventional medicine can do to relieve the problem.

Cry Me a River

Contrary to the popular belief that shedding tears indicates some sort of emotional weakness, tears are essential for good eye health. They bathe the eye, washing out dust and debris, and keep the eye moist. Tears also contain enzymes that neutralize the microorganisms that colonize the eye. But when you have dry eye syndrome, either the eye doesn’t produce enough tears or the tears have a chemical composition that causes them to evaporate too quickly.

Tears are made up of three layers. The mucus layer coats the cornea, forming a foundation so the tear film can adhere to the eye. The middle aqueous layer provides moisture and supplies oxygen and other important nutrients to the cornea. This layer is made of 98 percent water along with small amounts of salt, proteins and other compounds. The outer lipid layer is an oily film that seals the tear film on the eye and helps to prevent evaporation.

Every time we blink, the eyelids spread our tears over the eye. Excess tears flow into two tiny drainage ducts in the corner of the eye by the nose. These ducts lead to tiny canals that connect to the nasal passage. The connection between the tear ducts and the nasal passage is the reason that crying causes a runny nose.

Unfortunately, increased dryness is simply part the normal aging process since our bodies product less oil as we grow older – 60 percent less at age 65 then at age 18. Less oil means that the tear film evaporates much faster, leaving dry areas on the cornea. But other factors can trigger dry eye syndrome in younger folks – or make the problem worse in the 65+ set. Chief among these are hot, dry or windy climates, high altitudes, air-conditioning and cigarette smoke.

People who wear contact lenses can also suffer from dryness because the contacts absorb the tear film, causing proteins to form on the surface of the lens. Certain medications, thyroid conditions, vitamin A deficiency, and diseases like Parkinson’s and Sjogren’s can cause dryness too. And women can start to experience problems with dry eyes as they enter menopause because of hormonal changes.

Mixing Oil and Water

As I said, mainstream medicine doesn’t offer many solutions once you’ve got dry eye syndrome. And the pharmaceutical options they can recommend for preventing the problem are even fewer. But there’s new evidence that what you eat can have a protective effect against this debilitating condition.

According to a joint study by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Schepens Eye Research Institute, omega-3 fatty acids just might keep your tears flowing freely. But if your diet includes lots of omega 6’s – the kind of fat often found in salad oils, meat, and processed and refined foods – you are setting yourself up a higher risk for the dry eye syndrome.

The study used food intake surveys completed by more than 37,000 women enrolled in the landmark, BWH-based Women’s Health Study. After reviewing the data, the researchers found that:

-Women with the highest levels of omega-3s in their diets reduced the risk of dry eye syndrome by 20 percent compared to women with the lowest levels.

-A dietary ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s greater than 15:1 – a common ratio for people eating the standard American diet – is associated with a 2.5-fold increase in the incidence of dry eye syndrome in women.

-Eating tuna reduces the risk of dry eye syndrome. The women who reported eating at least five servings of tuna a week had 68 percent less risk of developing dry eye syndrome compared to women who only ate tuna once a week.

Deep Six

One of the most interesting thing about this study is the effect omega-6 fatty acids have on our eyes. This just adds to the growing number of studies showing that eating too much of this otherwise healthy fat can have a less than healthy impact if they aren’t balanced with omega-3s.

Although omega-6 fatty acids are essential for several body functions, they also produce inflammatory prostaglandins that promote cancer growth. Too much omega 6 can also raise your blood pressure, lead to blood clots that can cause heart attack and stroke, and cause your body to retain water.

Since about 80 percent of Americans are deficient in omega-3s, getting the ratio right is critically important. While hard-core purists think that we should all have a ratio of 1:1 – close to what our prehistoric ancestors had – that just isn’t realistic. Most nutritionists recommend a ratio of 4:1. That means consuming four times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3s instead of the 15:1 or higher that most of us eat now. Along with eating more omega-3 rich fish like salmon, sardines, tuna or mackerel, walnuts, flax or hempseed, it’s important to eat fewer foods high in omega-6s. So cut down on the amount of meat you eat, switch from vegetable oil to olive oil and bypass convenience foods in favor of whole grains, fruits and veggies.

One Last Thing …

Of course, eating the amount of tuna mentioned in the BWH study poses other problems – especially since much of the tuna we buy is contaminated by mercury and other pollutants. But you can get the same protective effect by taking a daily fish oil supplement. Taking at least 3,000 mg. of a pure marine fish oil supplement can help to rebalance your omega-6/omega-3 ratio.

This Just In …

Smokers often say that smoking a cigarette helps them concentrate and feel more alert. But according to researchers at the University of Michigan, years of smoking just might have the opposite effect. In fact, it seems that smoke dims the speed and accuracy of a person’s thinking ability. But what’s really alarming about this study is that the UM team found that lighting up can even bring down your IQ!

If you’re surprised, so were the researchers. The main subject of their study was alcohol, not cigarettes. But, while they did confirm that alcoholism had a long-term effect on the brains of the 173 alcoholic and non-alcoholic men that participated in the study, they also discovered that smoking diminished mental proficiency – even in the men who didn’t drink. And the effect on memory, problem-solving and IQ was most pronounced in those who had smoked for years.

Although other studies need to be done to see if becoming smoke-free can help you regain your mental capacities, quitting has so many other health benefits that it’s a no brainer. So the next time you try to justify your smoking addiction, remember this: studies (at least this one) now show that smoking really is just plain stupid.

References:

“Dry Eye Syndrome.” Medline Plus. Available at: www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/ article/000426.htm.

Glass JM, Adams KM, Nigg JT. “Smoking is associated with neurocognitive deficits in alcoholism.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2005;

Miljanovic B, Trivedi KA, Dana MR, et al. “Relation between dietary n–3 and n–6 fatty acids and clinically diagnosed dry eye syndrome in women.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2005;82:887-893.

Sendecka M; Baryluk A; Polz-Dacewicz M. “Prevalence and risk factors of dry eye syndrome.” Przeglad epidemiologiczny. 2004;58:227-233.