Is Pink Eye Rubbing You the Wrong Way?

Conjunctivitis, or "pink eye," is inflammation or infection of the lining of the eye, called the conjunctiva. It may be caused by one or several factors, including allergens, irritants, abrasions, bacteria, and viruses.

Most cases of pink eye will simply run their course, but a doctor should determine if you have a case of pink eye that needs treatment with prescription medicine. In rare situations, pink eye that is severe or left untreated can cause permanent vision loss or damage to the eye. Consider the three most common causes of pink eye and what you can do to help alleviate your symptoms:

Pink Eye Due to Allergies

Red, itchy eyes are a common complaint during allergy season. Seasonal conjunctivitis is usually due to ragweed, pollen, or other allergens that are around at certain times of year. Perennial conjunctivitis is due to contact with allergens that are around at all times of the year, such as mold spores, animal dander, dust mites, and feathers. It's worse in dry, warm weather and lessens with rain and cool temperatures.

You can often tell if conjunctivitis is due to allergies when it involves both eyes. Symptoms include watery eyes, itchiness, and mucous discharge. Dark circles under the eyes, or "allergic shiners," may be present. You may also experience sensitivity to light.

What You Can Do

Using saline irrigation and cold compresses can help alleviate symptoms. Avoid rubbing your eyes, as this only irritates them more.

Preservative-free artificial tears are a helpful way to flush out allergens. They also form a barrier to prevent allergens from coming into contact with the eye. One trick is keeping artificial tears in the refrigerator, so they provide cooling relief.

Although topical over-the-counter redness-reducing agents can be used, second-generation antihistamines are more effective. Try using ketotifen (Alaway, Zaditor). If your symptoms are severe, you may need to see a doctor, who will most likely prescribe a prescription eye drop for short-term use, such as a steroid.

[See A Survival Guide to Spring Allergy Season.]

Pink Eye Due to Viruses

Viral conjunctivitis is very common. Symptoms usually resolve within five to 14 days, but it's highly contagious. It spreads through direct contact with contaminated hands, pool water, and personal items.

This kind of pink eye can affect one or both eyes. You may have symptoms in one eye but then develop symptoms in the other eye as well. It often comes with an upper respiratory infection, and symptoms include red eyes, itchiness, and a watery or mucous discharge.

What You Can Do

Avoiding contact with others is important to prevent spreading viral conjunctivitis. Don't rub your eye, as this can cause the virus to spread into the other eye. Cold compresses and artificial tears typically alleviate symptoms. Viral conjunctivitis may require the attention of a doctor, and antibiotics may be necessary to prevent a bacterial infection.

[See Top Recommended Hand Sanitizers.]

Pink Eye Due to Bacteria

Bacterial conjunctivitis often looks like viral conjunctivitis, but it's less common. A typical complaint by people with bacterial conjunctivitis is awakening to a feeling that their eyes are "glued shut."

What You Can Do

Sometimes bacterial conjunctivitis can cause complications in children, particularly eye infections. Your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic eye drop, usually for five to seven days.

Pink eye from bacteria often comes from other infections in the ears, throat, or sinuses. If that's the case, you must get appropriate treatment for these other infections.

[See Top Recommended Antibacterial Soaps.]

Note: This article was originally published on May 24, 2012 on PharmacyTimes.com. It has been edited and republished by U.S. News .

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Ashton Kutcher's Fruitarian Diet: What Went Wrong?

Method actors tend to go to extreme lengths to get inside the minds of the characters they portray. For Ashton Kutcher, that meant adopting Steve Jobs's fruitarian diet for one month, a regimen based solely on, well, fruit. He's portraying the late Apple CEO in jOBS, a biopic set to hit theaters in April.

All that fruit—must be healthy, right?

Not exactly. "I ended up in the hospital two days before we started shooting the movie," Kutcher told reporters at the Sundance Film Festival. "I was doubled over in pain, and my pancreas levels were completely out of whack, which was terrifying, considering everything." Jobs died in October 2011, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. His fascination with fruitarianism helped inspire his company's name.

[See How the Raw Food Diet Works.]

Motivation for adopting the diet varies, but followers are typically swayed by health, religious, environmental, and political factors. Many tout fruitarianism as the original diet of mankind, and believe it encourages simple living and a holistic approach to health. Those who latch on are often propelled by a desire not to kill anything, including plants. The regimen comes with a rich history: Leonardo da Vinci was a fruitarian, and Mahatma Gandhi followed the plan for six months in the early 1900s.

So what's the problem with loading up on apples and bananas? For starters, it's extremely restrictive. Although there's no one fruitarian diet, most followers make sure at least 75 percent of their daily intake comes from raw fruit. Often, they snub anything that was picked, opting only for fruit that fell naturally. Though some fruitarians are more flexible than others, the diet typically revolves around the seven basic fruit groups. These include: acid fruits (citrus, pineapples, cranberries); subacid fruits (sweet cherries, raspberries, figs); sweet fruits (bananas, melons, and grapes); nuts (hazelnuts, pistachios, cashews); seeds (sunflower, squash, pumpkin); oily fruits (avocados, coconuts, olives); and dried fruits (dates, prunes, raisins).

[See Best Plant-Based Diets.]

It's perhaps counterintuitive to consider that there's such a thing as too much fruit. Indeed, it's a healthy food packed with vitamins and antioxidants. But "it can't supply many of the building blocks needed to maintain the structure of your organ tissue, muscles, bones, immune cells, and hormones," says registered dietitian Cynthia Sass, author of S.A.S.S. Yourself Slim: Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds and Lose Inches.

We each need protein, fat, and carbohydrates to keep our bodies functioning properly, and fruit only provides carbs. In addition to supplying too few calories, the fruitarian diet likely won't provide adequate levels of vitamin B-12, calcium, vitamin D, zinc, iodine, and omega-3 fatty acids—which can "lead to a form of starvation and serious health risks," Sass says.

It's unclear exactly why Kutcher's fruitarian diet went awry; details about his case are scarce, and the actor is no longer following the plan. Some experts speculate that the regimen was too taxing on his organs. "Our pancreas secretes insulin when carbohydrates are consumed," says registered dietitian Keri Gans, author of The Small Change Diet. "If all he was doing was eating fruit, he may have been overworking it."

[See Best Heart-Healthy Diets.]

In general, research on the fruitarian diet is lacking, and what little does exist dates back 40 years or so. Most stories of benefits come from the followers themselves. Michael Arnstein, founder of the Woodstock Fruit Festival in Diamond Point, N.Y., for example, has been all-fruit for about five years now. "I've become nearly super-human," he says. "I've evolved into an elite marathon runner, and I recently ran 100 miles in 12 hours and 57 minutes. I also haven't had a cold or a cough during that time."

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