Rheumatoid arthritis treatment may help those with dry eye syndrome

A recent study examined whether the medicine used to treat rheumatoid arthritis could potentially help people who suffer from dry eye syndrome. The medicine, anakinra, is used to reduce swelling in painful joints and researchers wanted to see if it could reduce the swelling associated with dry eye syndrome. The study involved 75 people with dry eye syndrome and the participants were randomly divided into three groups. The first two groups were given eye drops which contained different strengths of anakinra and the third group of people were given placebo drops. The groups were not told which drops they were given. What the researchers discovered was that after 12 weeks of treatment, the people who received the drops containing anakinra reported that their symptoms had been reduced an average of 30 to 35 percent. The placebo group reported that their symptoms had improved by 5 percent. Researchers hope to further study this potential therapy and determine its true efficacy and compare it to other current therapies. Over the counter options for Dry Eye support include VisiVite's Dry Eye Relief oral nutritional supplement.*