Does vitamin A help, or make DE worse ?

[stella]

Does anyone know any statistics showing the effect of Vit A on DE ?
THere seems to be conflicting reports - annecdotal evidence seems to show it is bennificial ,yet i have read somewhere (cant find it) that tests showed it made things worse
I have recently gone on to cod liver oil for both arthritis and my DE
I was told to take the actual oil -yuck - that is more effective than capsules apparantly ,but it is very high in Vits A and D
Any comments appreciated

[Rebecca Petris]

Does anyone know any statistics showing the effect of Vit A on DE ?

Topical or oral?

[Rojzen]

retinoic acid, tretinoin, etc.

On such an important topic, I should be shot for shooting from the hip, but I haven't had a moment to pin down the terms I'm thinking of, yet. . .Rebecca's distinction between oral and topical is critical, when it comes to the effects of the various forms of A. . .and there is lots of controversy around topical Vitamin A, especially the retinoic acid variant thereof (forgive any poor terminology here).

Dr. Tseng, of ocular surface renown, for some time used retinoic acid on lid margins. . .This earned him lots of criticism, because I think there had been studies showing dangers in the use of retinoic acid anywhere near the corneas. . .(I applied it to my lid margins for 2 years with neither harmful nor beneficial effect). . .

Still, I think there are docs who actually used to use retinoic acid right on the ocular surface. . .for RCE and other surface problems. . .

Possibly most important, though, is the problem posed by what I think may be called tretinoin, the A found in Accutane. . .This taken either internally or topically (if possible) has, I believe, been very harmful in some cases, to several parts of of the eye, both anterior and posterior. . .

That said, I saw a dermatologist, for a time, who was adamant that Accutane has the potential to open blocked sebaceous and meibomian glands. . He truly wanted to cure my MGD. . .I still have the Accutane he prescribed for me. . .I just never had the guts to take it, because with that form of A, things can go in EITHER direction. . .and some of the stories I've read of kids taking Accutane and then developing really bad, irreversible dry eye have left their mark on me. . .

[stella]

I did not realize it was so contraversial
I was refering to oral - as in cod liver oil .The dose on the bottle says 4000iu ie 1200mcg per 10mls - I take 10 mls (2 teaspoons daily)Of course anyone taking multivits could be taking vit A in large doses
My vitamin bible says upper safe limit for longterm consumption =3000mcg
So that seems well within safe limits (you can overdose on vit A ,I understand)
If there is any possibility at all of it making DE worse i think i will stop it
Maybe it would be a question for Doc Latkany
Thanks for your reply Rojzen
It is also in claramist (tears again in USA) but Toni tells me it is in such small amounts that it is insignificant.I use claramist all the time
It is all so confusing

[untkicker29]

Stella,
That would probably be a good question to ask DrG or Dr. Latkany. I know I would like to read what their answer would be. Accutane caused my dry eye and it is a form of Vitamin A, so....