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ABSTRACT
Various studies have been carried out on the effect of various plants on intraocular pressure & blood pressure. For centuries, Ginger (Zingiber Officinales) is used in traditional medicine for common ailments in many countries of the world. Traditionally it is used in the treatment of systemic hypertension but there are very limited literatures on its effect on ocular hypertension. The purpose of this study was to determine the therapeutic effect of graded doses of Ginger (Zingiber officinales) extract on intraocular pressure and blood pressure. 40 subjects were used within the age of 18 -to 35 (mean age 28.93 ± 1.62) years, and 10 subjects each was placed into 3 groups A, B and C and were orally administered 50mg/kg body weight, 75mg/kg body weight and 100mg/kg body weight respectively of the Z.Officinales extract, while 10 subjects in group D were orally administered 500ml distilled water only as the control group. Their baseline intraocular pressure & blood pressure were obtained before ingestion and at 30minutes, 60minutes, 90minutes and 120minutes after ingestion using the Perkins applanation tonomter for IOP and mercurial sphygmomanometer for BP respectively. The measurements were carried out three times to ascertain greater accuracy and the average was taken. The result obtained showed a statistically significant reduction in Blood Pressure (BP) and Intraocular pressure (IOP) throughout the various time intervals with peak effect at 60minutes for both BP and IOP. It was also shown that the effect was dose-dependent. However the mechanism by which the reduction occurred was not clear. Thus further research is recommended into Z.Officinales to determine its influence on BP & IOP. Keywords: intraocular pressure, blood pressure, Ginger (Zingiber officinales) extract, normotensive adults.
