Read this article to learn about the role of eye in human body.
Eye is the most vulnerable part of the human body; it expresses the inner feelings, ailments of body, mind and beauty of the face. Eyes being one of the most important organs in Ayurveda, all five elements play a role in maintaining eye health.
Earth (Prithivi) governs the muscular part of the eye, fire (Tejas) controls the blood vessels, air (Vayu) maintains the color, water (Apu) dominates the white area, and space (Akasha) controls the tear ducts and channels.
According to Ayurvedic knowledge, eye diseases and disorders are caused by imbalance of the three doshas namely vata, pitta or kapha, doshas. The eye is organ of vision; it plays a very important role not only in life but also the human body, which gives us the sense of sight, allowing us to learn more about the surroundings than we do with any of the other four senses.
The eye allows us to see and interpret the shapes, colors, and dimensions of object in the world by processing the light they reflect or emit. Eye acts as a camera. A camera needs a lens and a film to produce an image. In the same way, the eyeball needs a lens (cornea, crystalline lens, vitreous) to refract, or focus the light and a film (retina) on which to focus the rays (Figure 12.1).
If any one or more of these components is not functioning correctly, the result is a poor picture. The care of eye is always a preventive stage towards the good health of eye. Eyes need to be protected from various environmental factors such as UV, sunlight etc., and from ocular diseases.
Based on projected increases in the prevalence of diabetes, the number of people with diabetes-related ocular diseases such as cataract, glaucoma, age macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy etc., are the major problems. According to the Vision Council ocular diseases are the second most prevalent health issues in US.
A recent report estimates the total economic burden of eye diseases in the U.S. at $51.4 billion annually (http://www(dot)preventblindness(dot)org/). These diseases cause 80% of blindness in Hong Kong. In India, cataract is responsible for almost 80% of blindness.
As per WHO report 2005, cataract causes 50% blindness globally; glaucoma and age macular degeneration is the second leading is the other leading factor for blindness.
Surgical and medication facilities are available for the treatment and management of ocular diseases. However cost of the surgical procedure and adverse effects of synthetic medicines, unable to reduce the avoidable blindness worldwide. Therefore researchers focused the pharmacological intervention for the treatment of ocular diseases.
Herbal Medicine is the oldest form of medicine known to mankind and herbs have played an important part in our development.
More than 2,000 years ago, Hippocrates wrote extensively about herbal medicine and healing. Herbal and nutritional supplements have gained considerable attention over the past few years, with many people hoping to maintain or improve their eyesight. Also Ayurvedic system of medicine described the usage of herbal extracts to treat various eye diseases.
In recent times scientifically and clinically validated that herbal drugs are more effective in the management and prevention of ocular diseases.