Herbal remedies just keep getting more popular. The more consumers use herbs, the more experts learn about the positive and negative effects. The American Academy of Ophthalmology has been monitoring potential vision side effects. Although the AAO suggests “much more research is needed before making any definite links,” here are preliminary areas of concern:
– Black cohosh, an herbal supplement for easing menopause symptoms, might cause clotting in eye blood vessels, change the curvature of the cornea or make contact lenses intolerable.
– Ginseng may disrupt the effectiveness of glaucoma or blood pressure drugs.
– St. John’s wort can make a person more susceptible to ultraviolet light damage to the eyes, which increases risk for cataracts.
– Ginkgo biloba, which has been found to control macular degeneration and glaucoma, might also cause bleeding in the eye.
For now, the AAO is recommending that individuals who use herbal supplements report the fact to their eye specialists. Plus, be aware of possible side effects, stopping herbal use at any sign of unwanted symptoms.
KEEPING AN EYE ON . . . JOKES
The next time someone doesn’t get one of your jokes, maybe he or she is simply a little weak in the right frontal lobe just above the right eye. It turns out that region of the brain processes our sense of humor. Researchers at University of Rochester School of Medicine used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams to analyze brain activity in 13 people when telling punchlines of jokes or showing them cartoons.
If people judged a joke or cartoon humorous, the right frontal lobe was highly active. The study was presented at December’s annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
Previous research has indicated people with depression symptoms experience lower and abnormal activity in the right frontal lobes. This same region is associated with social and emotional judgment. The researchers speculated brain scans might someday be commonly used to assess patients with depression and mood disorders.
