Forgot your password?
Treatment of Eye Diseases with Chinese Herbs and Their Active Principles
|
Eye disease such as glaucoma, AMD, and dry eye syndrome are major causes of blindness in individuals aged over 65 in the US and China. Among them, AMD is the hardest to treat. Treatment available for AMD can be grouped into two major categories: physical and pharmacological (chemical) therapies. The former received extensive attention with little success, whereas the latter attracted new attention with great hope of success. From preliminary studies, some Chinese herbs have been found to be efficacious for AMD treatment/prevention. Similarly, natural products isolated from these herbs have also been found to be effective in treating/preventing AMD, both dry and wet forms. Therefore, research advancement in this field will be most rewarding and profitable. Numerous active principles isolated from Chinese herbs are used to treat glaucoma, dry eye syndromes, cataract, uveitis, etc. They will be presented and discusses in this roundtable discussion. Research collaborations between China and US in this field is highly relevant as China has abundant clinically tried Chinese herbs and their isolated active principles, which are shown preliminary to be efficacious for AMD. However, it lacks scientific proof with preclinical data, which we can do well in the US. Therefore, working together, people of both the US and China will be benefited by it enormously. Approximately the same number of glaucoma patients are found in the US alone. Although, numerous drugs are now available for treatment/prevention of glaucoma, newer and safer remedies are needed to improve the efficacy and to reduce toxicity. Chinese herbs and active principles isolated from Chinese herbs are the best source to achieve the goals. |
