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Garden Egg: Another Way of Beating Glaucoma and Heart Diseases.
By Chukwuma Muanya
NIGERIAN researchers have demonstrated how a meal of garden egg would be of
benefit to patients suffering from raised intraocular pressure (glaucoma) and
convergence insufficiency, as well as in diseases associated with hyperlipidemia
such as ishcaemic heart diseases and arteriosclerosis.
Botanically called Solanum melongena, garden egg or bitter tomato is an economic
flowering plant belonging to the family Solanaceae and widely distributed
throughout the temperate and tropical regions. Members are mostly herbaceous
plants, and the fruit is berry and the seeds have large endosperm and are grown
mainly for food and medicinal purposes.
Several cultivars of Solanum fruits (Garden egg or egg plant) are found
throughout Nigeria and cultivated domestically. Phytochemical analysis indicates
that Solanum contains steroid alkaloid flavonoids. Solanium fruits contain
approximately 92.5 per cent of water, one per cent of protein, 0.3 per cent fat
and six per cent carbohydrate.
Glaucoma refers to a group of diseases that affect the optic nerve and involves
a loss of retinal ganglion cells in a characteristic pattern. It is a type of
optic neuropathy. Raised intraocular pressure is a significant risk factor for
developing glaucoma (above 22 mmHg or 2.9 kPa).
One person may develop nerve damage at a relatively low pressure, while another
person may have high eye pressure for years and yet never develop damage.
Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent damage of the optic nerve and resultant
visual field loss, which can progress to blindness.
Hyperlipidemia is an elevation of lipids (fats) in the bloodstream. These lipids
include cholesterol, cholesterol esters (compounds), phospholipids and
triglycerides. They are transported in the blood as part of large molecules
called lipoproteins.
Ischemic heart disease is a spectrum of diseases of the heart caused by
decreased oxygen supply to the myocardium (muscle of the heart). Ischemic heart
disease is a sequela of coronary artery disease.
Arteriosclerosis refers to stiffening of arteries. Arteriosclerosis is a general
term describing any hardening (and loss of elasticity) of medium or large
arteries (from the Greek Arterio, meaning artery, and sclerosis, meaning
hardening).
It has been shown that the prevalence of atherosclerosis and ischemic heart
disease is on the increase in the world and recently in Africa.
Researchers suggest that the clinical consequences of these conditions are
serious and exert major research efforts to improve knowledge of its
pathogenesis and thereby provide a more rationed approach to its prophylaxis and
therapy.
The study on garden egg and glaucoma is titled "Effects of Solanum melon¬gena
(garden egg) on some visual func¬tions of visually active Igbos of Nigeria". The
study was published in Journal of Ethnopharmacology by S. A. Igwe of the
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Health
Sciences, Abia State University, Uturu; Dora N. Akunyili of the Department of
Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu;
and C. Ogbogu of the School of Optometry, Abia State University, Uturu.
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