Persian Traditional Medicine and Ocular Health

In Persian Traditional Medicine (PTM), specific attention has been made to the prevention of diseases. The physicians of PTM believe that overeating could cause accumulation of substances in the body and cause diseases which is called “Emtela”. Foods discussed in connection with ocular health could be divided into two classes of useful and harmful foods. Harmful foods f such as beef, geese, eggplant, cauliflower and cheese which may cause poor vision. Dehydrating foods could be named as walnut and salty fish, hot foods such as garlic, onion and pepper. These kinds of foods causes dry eye. Beneficial nutriments for ocular health are thyme and saffron and fruits such as grape, fig, apple, plum and berries. One should not drink water with meals or immediately afterwards. Drinking cold water (icy water) cause difficulty in absorption of nutrients. Drinking water at once may have destructive subsequences to eyes; therefore, water should be drunk in suitable temperature and sipped. It is not safe to drink water first thing in the morning. Sleeping right after eating is harmful too. Avicenna believes that sleeping on belly after a full meal is the most harmful attitude for eyes. Galen says that old people need deep and continuous sleep more than others. From the view of PTM, moving eyes in directions, making delicate works, trying to look at delicate and find pictures and reading small letters would remove ocular fatigue. Urine, excretion, perspiration and vomiting are among systems in discharging the harmful substances from body system which are used by the body to clean itself from harmful substance. There have been mentions of local medicine for improving vision as well, for instance, using fennel extracts, pomegranate juice and honey which are used in special methods and are suitable for vision improvement. Local administration of pomegranate blossoms is suitable for treating inflammatory reactions.