First of all, don't take ANYTHING without checking with your doctor. Here's
the discussion our group has had about this:

One member tried bilberry, and didn't notice any improvement in vision. She
also tried lutein, but she started having chest pains, so she went off it.

Another member found this link that discusses the subject:
> http://www.allaboutvision.com/nutrition/index.htm#

Another member's doctor told her to eat lots of spinach, but we don't have
anything scientific about that helping anybody's vision.

Another member takes bilberry and said she doesn't know if it helps, but her
eye doctors didn't think it would hurt. She was also taking gingko, in a
supplement "for the eyes,"
but got worried because she was having floaters that seemed to be like
bleeding. So she quit that. But she still takes vitamin E and a few
spirulina tablets, but only on a theory that algae is a vegetable.

A member in Australia attended the 10th annual general meeting of the
Corneal Research Unit in Melbourne. Papers presented confirmed that Vitamin
E does not improve your
eye sight, large amounts of greens such as Spinach does but the amount you
have to eat is prohibitive so forget it ! Find the report here:
http://iris.medoph.unimelb.edu.au/new/corneal/corneahome.html

Another member asked about vitamin A, but nobody had any proof about Vitamin
A. Some people in the group take Centrum Silver, which has vitamin A and
Lutein.

Another member takes Vit E capsules and swears her eyes are not as dry

However, we also referred this question to a cornea doctor in Baltimore, and
here are our emails to and from him:

Date: Sun, 03 Dec 2000
From: "Mike"
Subject: Nutrition and Fuchs'

I recently sent an email to Dr. Jun (one of the doctors at Wilmer Eye
Institute researching Fuchs') with a question on how nutrition might affect
Fuchs'. First is my email to Dr. Jun.

Dr. Jun -

Recently, some members of the Fuchs' Friends site were discussing whether
any research had been published on how nutrition might affect Fuchs'.
Specifically, if eating such foods as spinach or carrots, or foods high in
certain vitamins, minerals, etc., might be of benefit, or detriment, to
slowing the progression of Fuchs'. Several members have been told to eat
specific foods, such as spinach, for other eye diseases, and that piqued
their curiosity about the Fuchs' angle.

Anything you can provide, even if it's an "I don't know" or "Research has
shown (or hasn't shown) ..." is greatly appreciated.
Mike

I received the following email in reply:

hi mike,
to my knowledge, no information has been published in the scientific
literature about nutrition and fuchs dystrophy. since we don't really know
what causes fuchs, it would be hard to recommend dietary changes to alter
the course of the disease. it seems harmless to go ahead and do this or
that, and if patients would like to try various things, chances are it won't
hurt or help. scientifically, unless things are tested formally, we won't
know if a change will affect fuchs for better or, for that matter, for
worse. some drugs that are tested have great theoretical promise, but when
tested scientifically, not only do they not help a certain disease, but they
may actually cause no effect, worsening, or have side effects that are
difficult to deal with. the bottom line is, I don't recommend them because
we don't know anything about them. however, if a patient feels strongly
about it, I wouldn't discourage it. I think its sort of a personal
preference sort of thing.
take care.
bert jun


----- Original Message -----
From: <eotten2001@...>
To: <fuchs_corneal_dystrophy@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2001 2:50 PM
Subject: [fuchs_corneal_dystrophy] Vitamins


> Has any one found any vitamins or herbs helpful?