Astavita Professional was introducing a new concept product at the Optometry's meeting held in Washington, DC from June 25 to 27 for suffers of asthenopia called "Eye Fatigue Relief."

The phenomenon known as asthenopia, commonly referred to as eye fatigue, is characterized by such symptoms as sensitivity to glare, headaches, sore eyes, and blurred vision.  Beside removal of the cause of eye fatigue, which is often not practical, there has to date been little progress toward relief of this growing problem. In answer to this challenge of unresolved and growing asthenopia suffering, Fuji Chemical Industry of Japan has focused on the research of the all natural antioxidant, AstaREAL® astaxanthin for the relief and prevention of eye fatigue.  To date, Fuji has sponsored 11 human clinical studies regarding the reduction of asthenopia symptoms with astaxanthin supplementation performed at 6 different universities and research institutions.  This well studied nutritional active is the component in Eye Fatigue Relief that carries the benefit of reduced onset of asthenopia symptoms.

Of the 11 human clinicals, several of the studies were performed on subjects who operated a computer continuously throughout the day.  Overall, research has shown significant positive results by instrumentation, measuring such things as accommodation (focus), acuity and critical flicker fusion, as well as by questionnaire response regarding eye fatigue complaints.

What is astaxanthin, how is it produced and why does it work? The astaxanthin used to produce Eye Fatigue Relief is an all-natural carotenoid with exceptional antioxidant power with a unique orientation within the body's cells which spans the bi-layer of the cell membrane. Astaxanthin is the only carotenoid that has both a hydroxyl group as well as a keto group on both ends of the molecule. These two polar ends are what allow the astaxanthin to anchor itself to the two outer layers of the cell membrane. This explains its ability to act as both a lipid soluble and water soluble antioxidant key to its ability to reduce cellular inflammation while also protecting the mitochondria, the power house of the cell.

Astaxanthin is what gives the pink and orange color to salmon, shrimp and lobster. The most abundant source of natural astaxanthin can be found in the fresh water microalgae called Haematococcus pluvialis. Fuji cultivates these microalgae in Maui, Hawaii and Sweden in fully enclosed and protected bio-systems for maximum control and quality.

Supporting studies have helped to provide insight into the reasons why astaxanthin helps to reduce eye fatigue, including factors such as increased capillary blood flow and improved ciliary body function. The ciliary body is a small muscle in the eye responsible for controlling the lens of the eye. Like any other muscle in the body if we overwork this tiny muscle, we will feel discomfort or pain along with other symptoms of tired eyes. Several studies, involving the ciliary body as well as other muscles in the body, have shown astaxanthin to generally increase the endurance and recovery of muscles after overuse, exercise or other forms of stress. 

AstaREAL astaxanthin is a Global Brand of Fuji Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.  For information on the research behind astaxanthin and asthenopia contact Fuji Health Science, Inc. at 1-877-385-4777 (contact@fujihealthscience.com) or Astavita Professional at 1-866-444-5121 (contact@astavitapro.com).