Knowing and treating nutritional imbalances is the basis of modern ophthalmology. The Dr. Carlos Vergés explains how they have incorporated advances in nutrition for the diagnosis and treatment of pathologies such as Cataracts, glaucoma, macular degenerations and Dry Eye in the middle Área Oftalmológica Avanzada.
Why is nutrition so important in ophthalmology?
In recent years, multiple studies have appeared that demonstrate the role of nutrition in the origin of various eye diseases. The best known are those that refer to the macular degeneration, a true "epidemic" of our time since its incidence exceeds 23% in those over 60 years of age and evolves towards irreversible blindness.
It has been shown that the lack of certain nutrients (lutein and zeoxanthin) in the retina determines a faster evolution and more serious complications. Thus, in the center we always start from the holistic concept and treat the person as a whole.
Eye Diseases Linked to Nutritional Deficits
In the latter, we limited ourselves to administering artificial tears or anti-inflammatories in the most refractory cases, but we now know that in most cases there is an alteration in the lipid layer of the tear film and it is directly related to fat intake, the balance between good and bad fats, omega 3 and omega 6
How can we prevent the onset or progression of eye diseases through nutrition?
We have seen that the onset of these diseases depends on the activation of certain genes to initiate a series of cellular changes that will give rise to the disease or accelerate its evolution.
The activation of genes may be due to the action of nutritional factors, directly, such as lutein levels in the retina, in the cases of maculopathies or the deficiency of vitamin C and other antioxidants, in the case of dry eye, which produces the activation of the inflammatory cascade that damages the tear-secreting glands and the Eyelids, responsible for moisturizing and lubricating the eyes.
What does nutritional control imply? Is diet the same as nutrition?
It involves studying the diet of people and how nutrients are absorbed and metabolized inside the body and how they access the tissues. Through a few questions and some blood tests we can find out if there is a nutritional imbalance in that person that could explain some ailment or make us think that in the future they may have it.
Regarding diet, it refers to what we eat, while nutrition goes to what goes into the organism, how it is metabolized and how it reaches the tissues. Therefore, in cases in which there is already some pathology is necessary a study by a nutritionist and in the case of the eyes, if it is a nutritionist expert in ophthalmology, much better. In our center we have a professional specialist to study and establish the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases where nutritional deficiencies are important.
After more than five years working in this line, the response of our patients has been very good and, for example, in terms of dry eye pathology, we have achieved 90% of successful treatments.
