Exposure may be cause of eye lesion

Dear Dr. Roach: I am under the careof anophthalmologist, and on a routine exam I was told that I have pinguecula of the eyes. What does this mean? I was given artificial tears and amto followup regularly.— V.P.

A pinguecula is a benign lesion made of fat and protein. It’s located in the conjunctiva of the eye, at the limbus -- the point where the sclera meets the cornea. Apinguecula never goes over onto the cornea, which distinguishes it fromanother common eye lesion. We think they are caused by years of irritation from dust, wind and sun exposure. You need not be worried, because a pinguecula doesn’t affect vision and usually doesn’t need treatment beyond lubricating eyedrops.

Dear Dr. Roach: A friend gave me a recipe to lower blood sugar. He said his mother used it, and it helped her. Iwant to knowif it is for real or an old folk remedy.

You mix apple cider vinegar with apple and grape juices, and drink 2 ounces in the morning and 2 ounces in the evening. I made a batch but halved it because it seemed like a lot to start. My blood sugar dropped seven points. Can you tellme if this is a real thing or a temporary situation?— R.C.

Some old folk remedies do work, and it has taken years for scientists to try to find out which ones are really useful and, if so, why. In the case of apple cider vinegar, there is a small study showing that 20 grams of apple cider vinegar did lower blood sugar when volunteers with diabetes were given a meal of a bagel with butter and orange juice. The magnitude of the effect is small -- usually not enough to be an effective treatment by itself. I also am concerned about the effect of vinegar on the teeth.

Adding fruit juice to the vinegar doesn’t seem to be necessary and it adds sugar, which is generally not a good idea in people with diabetes.