Caffeine Relieves Dry Eyes

Bryan Nash | Apr 18, 2012 | Comments 0

Dry eye syndrome affects about 4 million people over age 50 in the U.S. And now researchers at the University of Tokyo’s School of Medicine believe they have found a simple and easy treatment: caffeine.

Researchers knew that caffeine stimulates saliva  and they theorized that the same would be true with tear glands. Tests proved their hypothesis. Caffeine increases tear production, which in turn alleviates dry eyes.

“If confirmed by other studies, our findings on caffeine should be useful in treating dry eye syndrome,” said Dr. Arita, M.D. Ph.D. the lead researcher. “At this point, though, we would advise using it selectively for patients who are most sensitive to caffeine’s stimulating effects.”