Glucosamine and Chondroitin causing farsightedness

[Xrusader]

I will be 40 soon.  I've had perfect vision my whole life, but recently had to get reading glasses.  I'm told this is normal for my age.  But I'm wondering if Glucosamine and Chondroitin intake may have accelerated the process.  I started taking it two years ago to reduce wear and tear from basketball.  After getting the reading glasses, I stopped taking the the Glucosamine and Chondroitin and also started massaging my lenses.  My theory was that the farsightedness (reduced flexibility of the lenses) was being accelerated by the supplement.  So far, I've reduced my farsightedness by 4 inches.  An additional 6 inches will get my sight back to what it was a few years ago.  

Any thoughts on this?

[walkietalkie]

I tried glucosamine before but stopped taking it after a short while b/c these supplements gave me extreme dry eyes. My eyes stopped drying as soon as I threw them away.

[allmymarbles]

I knew the lens got stiffer, I didn't know it got larger. Also I had wondered if the muscles weakened with time. I never saw this information on the internet. Thanks.

[Gadfly2]

I searched glucosamine and eyes for a reason.  I am not taking it anymore.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

The older you get the more you're going to need glucosamine and chondroitin (G&C) . I have a knee injury from volleyball and decades of running marathon distances. The G&C have worked wonders on my knees and probably my hips. I started taking it after so many of my patients told me how much it had helped them.

As for presbyopia. Stop massaging your eyes, it raise pressure in the eyes.

It is now know absolutely that the need for reading glasses that occurs due to age is NOT A MUSCLE PROBLEM. It is due to the lens getting stiff and rigid. The lens gets rigid because it grows like a tree. New cells form over the surface of the lens and compress the old cells towards the center. (think how the tree trunk grows). This makes the lens bigger and less able to flex.

With special types of cataract surgery and insertion of a flexible implant such as the Crystalens the eye can regain the ability to focus.

JCH III MD