Liquid Sunglasses

By Rick Lewis

HEALTH Magazine

It's in your makeup and shampoo, and within two years, aloe vera may find it's way into eyedrops as well. Neville Baron, MD, an ophthalmologist in Secaucus, New Jersey, put the popular plant through a battery of tests and found that an aloe vera extract just may be the "miracle eye drop of the twentieth century."

Aloe vera offers several helps to health. It is an emollient, a natural healer and it protects tiny blood vessels in the skin. Aloe vera is also a powerful antimicrobial agent, working especially effectively on those bugs that often infect human eyes.

But aloe vera's most valuable characteristic as an eye drop is its ability to absorb damaging ultraviolet (UV) rays, acting as "liquid sunglasses," according to Dr. Baron. We are exposed to ultraviolet light every day -from sunlight, fluorescent lamps- and there's evidence its effects are cumulative. Moreover, certain types of UV light have been linked to cataracts, degeneration of the retina and abnormalities of the lens. Aloe vera extract would not only be useful in protecting the extra-sensitive eyes of people with these problems, but it might also help shield normal eyes from damaging rays.

That's not all: Aloe vera extract may soon be tested for its ability to protect delicate inner eye structures during laser surgery!