Research indicates stress causes dry eyes. Stress producing hormones that constrict blood vessels ( vasoconstriction). TheraLife Eye treats chronic dry eye symptoms by providing ingredients to help blood vessels relax, therefore allowing delivery of proper nutrients to restore and revive normal tear functions.
What are dry eyes?
Dry eyes happen when the eye is not getting enough tear production- called tear insufficiency. The other reason is, the tear is not thick enough, causing Evaporative Dry Eyes. What is more, dry eyes left untreated also lead to blepharitis (inflammation of the eyelids); meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) clogged meibomian oil glands located on your eyelids, and watery dry eyes.
Symptoms of dry eyes include eye pain, blurry vision, sandy-gritty feeling, irritation, red, puffy swollen eyelids and light sensitivity. In chronic dry eye cases, these symptoms causing much stress, despair, and depression. 1 Dry eyes impact the quality of life for at least 60 million people in the United States.
The biggest culprit of dry eye is inflammation – which is a result of the friction caused by blinking. The red, swollen cellular response shuts down cell functions, produce stress hormones, causing diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, allergy, asthma, autoimmune diseases, celiac disease, kidney disease, hepatitis, and inflammatory bowel disease to name a few. The same distress reduces tear production, inability to produce lubricants and oils to thicken the tears. Dry eyes not treated properly leads to corneal abrasion and permanent damages to your eyes.
What Happens During Stress?
Stress due to work, personal challenges, and hormone changes during menopause, cause permanent damages to your body. As a result, all the bodily functions- (the heart and blood vessels, immune system, lungs, digestive system, sensory organs, and brain) gear up to meet perceived danger. Consequently, stress puts a strain on the body that may contribute to physical and psychological problems. Chronic, long-term stress results in chronic dry eyes.
Conventional treatment for dry eyes include eye drops, eye drops without preservatives, thick gel drops and more. Most of the prescription dry eye treatments are also eye drops based. Unfortunately frequent use of eye drops can make your eyes drier 2. In addition, some people are allergic to the ingredients in the prescription eye drops. For severe chronic dry eyes, eye drop treatment for dry eyes are simply not working. This severely limit the options available for effective dry eye treatments.
How Do Stress Hormones Affect Your Eyes
There are three (3) major hormones produced during stress, Cortisol, Norepinephrine, and Adrenaline.
1.Adrenaline-
Adrenaline is produced by the adrenal glands sitting on top of your liver. During stress, your body produces adrenaline. Adrenaline speeds up your heart rate, diverting blood to vital organs and less blood to your extremities. Therefore, Adrenaline causes less blood being delivered to your eyes. This causes dry eyes.
2. Cortisol
Cortisol regulates the “fight or flight” response. Cortisol is produced during stress by increasing the glucose level in the blood. It reduces bodily functions that would be nonessential or detrimental in a “fight-or-flight” situation. It alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system, and growth processes. This complex natural alarm system communicates with the brain regions that control mood, motivation, and fear.
Cortisol regulates sleep. People under chronic stress often report difficulties with sleep, weight gain, depression, and anxiety. This is called “Cortisol Burnout”. Having enough sleep is important in dry eye relief.
3. Norepinephrine
Norepinephrine is produced by the adrenal glands and the brain. It is also called the “Stress Hormone”. During stress, norepinephrine causes high blood pressure, anxiety, and sweating. This makes your dry eye symptoms unbearable.
Conclusions
All these hormones changes happen during stress. Therefore, your eyes suffer because these hormones make your pupils dilate. The reason why is to get more light into your eyes so you can see any potential threats more clearly. However, when you are stressed out for a long time, the constant pupil dilation makes you light-sensitive creating problems with driving. Some people even have to wear sunglasses indoors to cope. Besides, when you are very tense, as many stressed-out people are, the muscles in and around your eyes can tighten, causing twitching and soreness.
How to Cope With Stress
Effective methods recommended to reduce stress are to meditate, practice yoga, exercise, get enough sleep and being mindful. All these lifestyle changes may not be easy to implement. We live in this modern-day constantly on the go, checking cell phones and trying to keep up with the rapid pace all around us .
Control Vasoconstriction through Nitric Oxide
A more controllable approach to stress relief is through the intervention of the blood vessel constriction. Constriction during stress caused by adrenaline and the sympathetic nervous system in the brain. Vasodilation can help relax these blood vessels, reduce blood pressure, deliver nutrients to the eye. The body can induce vasodilation by producing a chemical called “nitric oxide”. Nitric oxide binds to the smooth muscle cells and produce signals to tell the smooth muscle cells to relax and dilate. Researches have shown nitric oxide can reduce the risk for people with high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases 3
The ways to increase nitric oxide for vasodilation are to:
1. Increase your intake of antioxidants. This includes Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Polyphenols (dried herbs, spices, seeds, nuts, etc.) and glutathione ( Foods rich in sulfur, Vitamin C, selenium, turmeric, milk thistle and more.
2. Vegetables – Vegetables that are high in nitrate are high in antioxidants. This is why vegetables are so effective at increasing and maintaining optimal levels of nitric oxide.
Why TheraLife Eye works for Stress-Induced Dry Eyes
TheraLife Eye capsules is an all natural oral treatment for dry eyes. One of the reasons for it being a powerful dry eye treatment is because it targets to increase nitric oxide in the body in order to deliver nutrients to the eye.
TheraLife Eye patented formula is highly effective in providing all the right ingredients to increase nitric oxide productions. The formula contains, and not limited to, high levels of herbal plant extracts, Vitamin C. Vitamin E, selenium, beta carotene etc. that increase nitric oxide balance in your body in a controlled manner to help dilate blood vessels to deliver more blood and nutrients to your eyes. At the same time, it has been reported that people who take TheraLife Eye also experience reduced blood pressure, overall improvement of vision, and preserving vision as you age.
To learn more about how TheraLife Eye works, click here
References:
1. The Sicca, Anxiety and Depression Study
Bitar, Maya S., MD*; Olson, Daniel J., MD†; Li, Menbing, MS‡; Davis, Richard M., MD†. Cornea: June 2019 – Volume 38 – Issue 6 – p 684–689
2. Artificial tears making your dry eyes worse. https://www.theeyepractice.com.au/optometrist-sydney/why-artificial-tears-could-be-making-your-dry-eyes-worse
3. Functional foods for augmenting nitric oxide activity and reducing the risk for salt-induced hypertension and cardiovascular disease in Japan. J Cardiol. 2018 Jul;72(1):42-49. doi: 10.1016/j.jjcc.2018.02.003. Epub 2018 Mar 12.
