Herbal Ginger Protects Your Eye Against Diabetics' Retinal Damage

Scientists may have found natural ingredients for the treatment of retinal damage with no side effects, according to studies.

The retina is a thin layer of tissue that lines the inside of the back of the eye with a function to convert light into neural signals to the brain for visual recognition.

Retinal damage is a condition characterized by damage of the thin layer of tissue of retina caused by many underlying problems.

Although it is not common, retinal damage, however, is a leading cause of macular degeneration in older adults.

The late stage of retinal damage has been associated with vision impairment and reduced quality of life in patients.

Macular degeneration is a medical condition caused by the deterioration of the small central portion of the retina, known as the macula in inducing gradually reduced vision, a leading cause of severe, irreversible vision loss in people over age 60.

According to the statistic, macular degeneration affects more than 1.75 million aging population in the United States.


The causes of retinal damage can be various. However, some researchers suggested certain conditions associated with the eye vision may foretell the damage of the retina, including
* Dim vision, the vision is longer as bright as before.
* Distorted and double vision
* Worsen floating webs compared to before
* Flashing lights
* Halo from the light sources
* Block some of the vision


If you have some of the aforementioned symptoms, please make sure that you check with your doctor for preventive measure.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) or ginger root, the second superfood used for thousands of years by mankind, is the genus Zingiber, belonging to the family Zingiberaceae, native to Tamil.

The root has been used in traditional and Chinese medicine for the treatment of dyspepsia, gastroparesis, constipation, edema, difficult urination, colic, etc.

Researchers on finding a natural compound for the treatment of retinal damage with no side effects compared to chemo medication examined the anti-lung cancer of bioactive compounds isolated from the ginger.

In seeking a natural ingredient for the prevention and treatment of retinal damage, researchers examined the synergistic effect purple waxy corn and ginger (PWCG) against diabetic eye complications.

The study included diabetic rats induced by streptozotocin, an antibiotic with the blood glucose levels >250 mg·dL(-1) orally given the extract at doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg·BW(-1) for 10 weeks.

According to the tested assays, all dose of PWCG decreased lens opacity, MDA, the levels of retinal oxidative stress and augmented reality (AR) which has a unique optical design specially engineered for measuring near-eye displays (NEDs), in the lens of diabetic rats.


Injection of the extract also improved the antioxidant profile which was decreased due to the administration of streptozotocin in the diabetic rats.

Additional observation showed that the extract exerts antiretinopathy property by the increased number of neurons in the ganglion cell layer and thickness of the total retina and retinal nuclear layer in diabetic rats.

Dr. Thiraphatthanavong P, the lead scientist said, " PWCG is the potential functional food to protect against diabetic cataract and retinopathy".

Furthermore, in order to reveal more information about ginger anti-diabetic retinopathy (DR) activity, researchers analyzed the protective effect of zerumbone, a monocyclic sesquiterpene compound found in ginger, against DR.

The study included streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats treated with ZER (40 mg/kg) once a day orally for 8 weeks.

During the study, researchers found that ZER administration significantly (p < 0.05) lowers the levels of plasma glucose (32.5% ± 5.7% lower) and glycosylated hemoglobin (29.2% ± 3.4% lower) in STZ-diabetic rats.

ZER also reversed the disarrangement and reduction in the thickness of retinal layers in diabetic rats.

Particularly, ZER also inhibited the elevated levels of advanced glycosylated end products (AGEs) and the higher levels of the receptors for AGEs (RAGE) involving the retinal damage in diabetic rats.


Moreover, the efficacy of ginger that protects the diabetic retinopathy was associated with the deactivation of the proteins in stimulating the production of proinflammatory cytokines and apoptosis in the retinas of STZ-diabetic rats.

Take all together, ginger processed a high amount of bioactive compounds may be considered a functional alternative for prevention and treatment of retinal damage, pending to the confirmation of large sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) The combined extract of purple waxy corn and ginger prevents cataractogenesis and retinopathy in streptozotocin-diabetic rats by Thiraphatthanavong P1, Wattanathorn J2, Muchimapura S2, Thukham-mee W2, Lertrat K3, Suriharn B. (PubMed)
(2) Zerumbone, a Phytochemical of Subtropical Ginger, Protects against Hyperglycemia-Induced Retinal Damage in Experimental Diabetic Rats by Tzeng TF1, Liou SS2, Tzeng YC3, Liu IM. (PubMed)