Glaucoma 2020

Traditional/Herbal Therapeutics in Ophthalmology

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Globalization and cross movement of people across countries have led to adoption of traditional health practices, once indigenous to a sect of population or country, by other populations outside its indigenous culture. If utilized properly, traditional medicine and health practices can be a source of income as has already been described in countries like India and China, where traditional health practices have evolved and developed over the years and are accepted the world over as established modes of alternative therapies. By the report “Traditional Medicine in Oman: Its Role in Ophthalmology”, three patients who were examined in the Ophthalmic department of a tertiary care teaching hospital in the Sultanate of Oman between 2003 and 2004, have been cured fully or partially.

Also, the traditional medicinal systems of various civilizations are well known to use herbal remedies for various ocular conditions. Plant derived compounds came to ocular use in the last century in which cocaine, physostigmine, pilocarpine and atropine are still holding a place in modern ophthalmology practice. The traditional knowledge available at different populations are of current interest among researchers throughout the world for finding new therapeutic modalities for ocular disorders like glaucoma, uveitis, cataract and neovascular conditions etc.