Vitamin E: Antioxidant and Eye Vitamin Rolled Into One

Vitamin E, touted as one of the most potent antioxidants known to the natural world, is now being studied for its potential to prevent glaucoma in people who wear contact lenses.

Corneal pressure = eye problems

The main cause of eye problems in the modern world is pressure in the corneas.  The risk for glaucoma increases when eye drops (which relieve pressure in the corneas) are transported away from the target tissue by tears.

Eye medication is also readily absorbed by the eye tissue, which could then cause unwanted side effects when the medication reaches the bloodstream.

This is the bleak present that contact lens users face today.  But recent research done by Dr. Anuj Chauhan shows that lenses that have been treated with vitamin E can help keep eye medication where it’s supposed to stay 100 times better than non-medicated lenses.

Two of the most common eye diseases – glaucoma and cataract can be avoided if only the drugs used to prevent them were not absorbed or transported away from the target site.  Dr. Chauhan’s study shows a way out of this conundrum.

How it works

The trick is to prevent tears from interfering with the delivery of the eye medication.   How did Dr. Chauhan’s team do it?  First, they created a separate layer for contact lenses that is made up of molecules of tocopherol or vitamin E.

This layer serves as a barrier that increases the travel time of the medication.  So instead of having the medication travel from one point to another in under ten minutes, the drug is forced to travel for a longer period through the corneal area, because it cannot pass through the barrier layer.

Think of this layer as a wall made up of molecular bricks that do not allow the passage of other substances.  These molecular bricks are much longer than the molecules of regular contact lenses.

Apart from increasing the efficiency of the drug delivery system in the eye, there are other benefits as well:

• When applied to contact lenses, vitamin E prevents UV radiation from completely passing through the lens. This prevents eye damage.
  
  
• Vitamin E is an antioxidant and has a positive effect on the eye tissue when applied in small amounts.

Other benefits of vitamin E

• In a study performed by the Council for Responsible Nutrition, it was found that taking 600 IU of vitamin E per day drastically reduced the risk of heart disease in women, especially the more senior members of the female population.
  
  
• Vitamin E is a potent antioxidant that prevents free radicals from damaging healthy cells.
  
  
• 400 IU of vitamin E daily can reduce the occurrence of hot flashes in women with low estrogen.

Sources
sciencedaily.com
nutrition.about.com