Myopic Treatment Using Traditional Herbal Remedies

School of Medical and Allied Sciences, KR Mangalam University, Gurgaon, Haryana, India.

*Corresponding Author:

Pankaj Gupta
School of Medical and Allied Sciences
KR Mangalam University, Sohna Road
Gurgaon, Haryana, India
Tel: +91-11-9818256122
E-mail: gupta.aiims@gmail.com

Received date: March 07, 2017; Accepted date: March 08, 2016; Published date: March 13, 2017

Citation: Gupta P (2017) Myopic Treatment Using Traditional Herbal Remedies. J Tradit Med Clin Natur 6:e129.

Copyright: © 2017 Gupta P. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Editorial

Myopia, commonly known as short-sightedness is a major ocular complication affecting approximately one third of the world population whereby the objects in the distance appear blurred and severe condition may lead to retinal detachment, glaucoma and cataract. There are several causative factors for myopia such as deficiency of vitamin A, long work on computer, mobile, visual stress, weakness of muscle in eye etc. Though the current therapies involve use of spectacles, contact lenses and surgical treatments but the traditional herbal therapies have always been an alternative for the treatment of myopia.

The example of such traditionally used herbal therapies includes triphala which is an ancient Indian traditional preparation comprising of Emblica officinalis, Terminalia bellerica and Terminalia chebula, that collectively aid in treating myopia by strengthening the muscles of the eye [1]. Cichorium endiria (commonly known as chicory) belonging to the family asteraceae, is useful in treating myopia. The herb is very rich in vitamin A and thereby helps in maintaining the eye health and shows beneficial results in person suffering from myopia. Bilberry and grape seed are antioxidant herbs that protect the eye from the damage caused by free radicals by scavenging the free radicals [2]. Bilberry is obtained from Vaccinium myrtillus belonging to the family myrtaceae while grapes belong to the genus Vitis. Dogwood is another herb used for the treatment of myopia and belongs to the family cornaceae. Its leaves are used to treat myopia as it makes the eye muscles stronger. Euphrasia officinalis (eyebright) and Glycyrrhiza glabra (Liquorice) are herbs with strong anti-inflammatory actions that have been used since ancient times in herbal medicines for the treatment of myopia.

Therefore, due to the different mechanisms of actions, administration of these traditional herbal remedies in alone or in combination may act as an alternative for the treatment of myopia and can also prove beneficial in maintaining the vision of the eye due to their nutritionally rich nature.

References

1. Rani B, Prasad M, Yadav RK, Chauhan V, Maheshwari M, et al. (2013)Triphala: a versatile counteractive assortment of ailments. IJPCS 2: 101-109.
2. Sandhu PS, Singh B, Gupta V, Bansal P, Kumar D (2011) Potential hebs used in ocular diseases. J Pharm Sci Res 3: 1127-1140.