‘Follow scientific advice, not treatment claims based on traditional medicine’
NEW DELHI: Patients with eye diseases should not fall for treatment claims advertised under the garb of traditional medicine, and instead follow the advice of certified ophthalmic consultants, doctors of the Delhi Ophthalmological Society said.
Modern medicine is opposed to unscientific, pseudoscientific solutions and relies on evidence-based practices, doctors said.
There has been a spurt in advertisements in the media urging people to stop their established therapies for eye diseases and luring them to switch to unscientific treatment modalities, said Dr J S Bhalla, senior consultant eye surgeon at DDU hospital.
“This is leading to an alarming situation. It’s essential to rely on validated, evidence-based practices rather than antiquated beliefs,” Bhalla, who is also the secretary of Delhi Ophthalmological Society, an association of 11,000 eye surgeons, said.
“While appreciating the valuable contribution of ayurvedic drugs/science in the health of humanity, we members of Delhi Ophthalmological Society want to clarify some facts for the benefit of everyone,” he said.
“Modern medicine is not opposed to traditional systems of medicine,” Bhalla said. It is averse to anything which is unscientific, pseudoscientific, or rooted in faith, he clarified.
Unfortunately there are false and misleading claims made by some individuals/companies that using just 1 type of eye drops can cure all eye diseases like cataract, glaucoma, refractory errors, retinal disease, eye cancers etc, he said.
“It is really unfortunate that many patients stop their treatment falling prey to these unscientific claims and land up with blindness or other catastrophic consequences,” he added.
Dr KPS Malik, former deputy DGHS in the Union Ministry of Health and former head of department of Ophthalmology at Safdarjung Hospital stressed that it is important to create general awareness amongst people. Promotion of extraordinary claims without the backing of adequate scientific evidence should be strongly discouraged, he said.
“Cataract needs surgery for removal/aspiration/emulsification of opacified human crystallised lens and artificial lens implementation . It cannot be stopped or reversed by drugs. In India we conducted 83 lakh cataract surgeries in 2022-23 under National programme of prevention of blindness (NSPB ) of Government of India,” he stated.
Glaucoma (kala motia) is a potentially blinding condition due mainly to raised eye pressure but is treatable by eye drops or surgery, Malik said, adding that 12 million people in the country are affected by the disease and 1.2 million have turned blind from it.
Cancer of eyes, eyelids, eye muscles or bones need chemotherapy, surgery or radiotherapy. No oral or miracle drug can cure the cancer of the eyes, he said.
