Omega 3 Fish Oil Could Help Dry Eye Menopausal Symptoms

A lot of women are entirely unprepared for the onset of menopause. And many will spend time researching what they can expect. According to WebMD, hot flashes and mood swings are the two most common symptoms that women can expect.

But, about 61 percent of menopausal women will suffer from the common dry eye symptoms while less than 16 percent of them will actually attribute it to menopause, according to the Huffington Post.

Dry eye, according to Women to Women, is rather common with hormonal imbalance. It’s characterized by a condition where the tear ducts are unable to produce enough tears to proficiently lubricate the eye. This can result in itchy and scratchy eyes, with some women reporting effects like burning and stinging. When estrogen receptors on the cornea and on the meibomian gland are affected by hormonal imbalance, they can often stop producing the necessary lubrication.

Although the medical community as a whole agrees that more research needs to be conducted into this subject matter, dry eyes have been colloquially linked to imbalances in estrogen, progesterone or testosterone.

Many doctors are now looking to omega 3 fish oil as the quick, natural fix for menopausal dry eye. The fatty acids in the fish oil are thought to reinforce the production of tears.

In an Eye World report, a recent study was noted that found that 70% of women who took omega 3 fish oil supplements reported be asymptomatic within a short time period of adding the supplement to their daily diet.

In a related study, the Ocular Nutrition Impact on Tear Film (ONIT), it was found that certain omega 3 fish oil supplements helped a vast majority of participants reduce or eliminate dry eye symptoms.

While there is no one cure-all for all menopausal symptoms, for women who are suffering from dry eye, it’s comforting to know that something as simple as fish oil that you can buy at any drug or grocery store can serve as an adequate natural remedy.

Considering that most health ailments are typically not inexpensively resolved, when it comes to dry eye menopausal symptoms, the cure could be fishy for a good reason.

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Earlier on Huff/Post50:

• Reuters recently reported that a daily spoonful of Malaysian honey may boost postmenopausal women’s memory. This is, of course, an “alternative therapy” for hormone-related memory loss.

• Caffeine may hinder absorption of minerals, lower bone density and increase stress hormones, according to NowPublic.com. Similarly, many women report that alcohol is a trigger for hot flashes, although research to prove a connection is lacking.

• According to a recent Japanese study, women who spend a lot of time exercising and eating a heart-healthy diet may actually reach menopause earlier. Women who exercised between eight and 10 hours each week were 17 percent more likely to enter menopause during the study period than women who consistently skipped the gym. The same held true (15 percent) for women who consumed foods high in polyunsaturated fats — the type of fat found in many fish and vegetable oils.

• Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota recently found eating flaxseed may not ease menopausal hot flashes after all, despite some promising early evidence that it might, Reuters said.

• The National Osteoporosis Foundation says calcium and Vitamin D help absorb osteoporosis medications and build bones as we grow older.

• Much like the flaxseed myth, researchers have mixed feelings about the effects of soy in a menopause diet. WomenToWomen.com says soy has been proven to improve insulin regulation, weight loss, bone health, nail, skin and hair health, heart health, hot flashes and night sweats. But a new study from Florida suggests otherwise, Reuters reports.