Sunday, April 15, 2007

Newsclip: Are Omega 3s useful for dry eye treatment or not?

Ocular Surgery News, April 2007


At Issue posed the following questions to a panel of experts: Do you recommend the use of omega fatty acids to treat dry eye? Why or why not?


All three in this 'panel' (Noel Alpins MD, David Hardten MD, Thomas Neuhann MD) recommend Omega 3s supplementation, mostly on the basis of improvement to meibomian gland function, though Dr. Alpins also suggests they may help with lacrimal gland secretion.

I appreciated Dr. Hardten's candour about the basis upon which doctors are recommending Omega 3s:

Even though there is little significant research to support their use, anecdotal experience in several patients, along with low toxicity, has led me to continue to recommend their use along with the use of flaxseed.


In other words... seems to help some people, probably won't hurt, so why not try.