BROOKLINE, U.S.A. — Dry eye treated orally with flaxseed oil has a high success rate, according to a 3-year follow-up of 200 patients. “We found that 85% had total relief of their symptoms at the 2-month check,” said investigator Carol F. Boerner, MD, an ophthalmologist in private solo practice here. “These patients, including my mother, commonly reported that the burning and stinging of their dry eyes went away in about 2 weeks. The results lasted as long as the treatment was continued.” Patients also reported
that “dry skin symptoms, such as cracked cuticles; flaky elbows, legs and feet; and itchy backs were alleviated.”
that “dry skin symptoms, such as cracked cuticles; flaky elbows, legs and feet; and itchy backs were alleviated.”
Dr. Boerner said that dry eye complaints are the most frequent reason for consultation in her practice. “Whether it’s complaints from young people using video display terminals (VDTs) all day or older folks trying to read the newspaper, tear film stability is an issue,” Dr. Boerner said. “A healthy tear film is important for comfortable contact lens wear, as well as prompt healing from corneal abrasions or laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK).”
Dr. Boerner believes that meibomian gland dysfunction leads to oily layered tear defects, “which permit aqueous layer evaporation and subsequent surface damage and symptoms.” When one of her patients cured his rosacea with parenteral flaxseed oil, “I wondered if the burning and stinging of dry eyes could also be helped with the same supplement.”
Major components
The major components of flaxseed oil are alpha-linolenic acid omega 3 (57%), linoleic acid omega 6 (15%) and oleic acid omega 9 (18%). “Flaxseed oil is the world’s richest source of omega 3 fatty acids — twice as much as fish oil, for instance,” Dr. Boerner said. Likewise, “alpha-linolenic and linoleic acids are essential to our diet because our body cannot make them, yet we use them to make other fatty acids our body must have.”
These are also important components of the stratum corneum for skin stability “and act as precursors to prostaglandins, which affect inflammation and arteriole muscle tone, among other actions,” Dr. Boerner said. Furthermore, “flaxseed oil causes hair and nails to grow more quickly, lowers triglycerides and makes platelets less sticky.”
The 200 patients in the prospective study were all from Dr. Boerner’s general practice and ranged in age from 22 to 85 years. All patients were given 2,000 mg of flaxseed oil orally every morning. “I chose 2,000 mg because that’s what helped my rosacea patient,” Dr. Boerner said.
Patients were evaluated at 2 months and then at yearly intervals for 3 additional years. “The patients were evaluated by noting changes in reported symptomatology of dryness and observation of the quantity and quality of meibomian gland secretions,” Dr. Boerner said. “We found that the change in tear break-up times did not really correlate very well with symptoms, because the values could change from morning to night on the same day, in the same patient.” The symptoms monitored were burning, stinging, redness at lid margins and the complaint of dry skin.
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Source
Carol F. Boerner, MD, can be reached at Eyes of Boston, 1101 Beacon St., Brookline, MA 02446-5502 U.S.A.; +(1) 617-566-0062; fax: +(1) 617-734-3264. Dr. Boerner has no financial interest in flaxseed oil.
Vitamin supplements should not replace a balanced diet.
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