How does one change the color pigment of the eye without using contact
lenses? Is there some type of procedure than can be undertaken to
achieve this and if so, what are the options available?

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 04 Dec 2003 10:46 PST

I know of a drug which darkens eye color, and can turn light-colored
eyes brown. Would information about this be acceptable as an answer to
your question? I am not aware of any substance that makes it possible
to go in the other direction, lightening the irises of dark-colored
eyes.

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Clarification of Question by amorley-ga on 05 Dec 2003 01:24 PST

Yes, information regarding a drug which darkens eye color, and can
turn light-colored eyes brown is very much appreciated but I would
also like to know whether there are options available to lighten eye
color or change the color of the irises to a specific color i.e. If I
had green eyes and wanted brown or blue colored irises, what would I
have to do to achieve this?

Hope this clarification helps.

Thank you kindly for your help, it is much appreciated.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 05 Dec 2003 17:56 PST

I do not know of any way to change the color of the iris to a chosen,
specific color, although the drug I mentioned earlier can change green
eyes to brown in certain individuals.

I'm not aware of any medical method to lighten eye color. Over the
years, there have been products and treatments which claimed to do
this, but which failed to live up to their claims. There's at least
one online site that claims it can lighten your eye color, for a
charge of several thousand dollars. However, posts on several Internet
forums are saying that this is a scam.

These days there are some remarkably natural-looking contact lenses
which can provide a temporary change in appearance, but as far as
long-lasting change in eye color goes, the aforementioned chemical
that darkens eye pigment is, I believe, the only available option.

Please let me know how you'd like me to proceed. I can post, as the
answer to your question, details about the iris-darkening drug and (if
you want it) info about the site that claims to be able to lighten
eyes (at a high price and probably a high risk of deception). If this
information would be fully satisfactory, I'll be glad to answer your
question. If you'd rather that I leave the question open for other
Researchers, that's certainly an option, too. It is possible that
another Researcher may know a procedure for lightening eye color of
which I am unaware.

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Clarification of Question by amorley-ga on 08 Dec 2003 02:02 PST

Hi pinkfreud-ga,

Yes, can you please post, as the answer to my question, details about
the iris-darkening drug (and any information regarding this drugs
safety/side-effects) and information about the site that claims to be
able to lighten
eyes.

Once again, thank you kindly for your help.

Cheers,
Alan.

A drug called lanatoprost (sold in the US under the trade name
"Xalatan") can, over a period of time, change the color of the iris.
This drug's primary use is in treating glaucoma or ocular
hypertension.

"XALATAN can cause changes in eye color. The iris, which is the
colored part of the eye, may darken due to an increase in brown color.
These changes may be more noticeable in patients with more than one
color in their eyes (such as green-brown or blue-brown). In addition,
XALATAN may cause darkening of the eyelid and the eyelashes and
increase in the growth of eyelashes of the treated eye. These color
changes can increase for as long as XALATAN is used. Eye color changes
are likely to be permanent. The color changes did not increase after
XALATAN was discontinued in clinical studies. After discontinuation of
XALATAN, eyelid skin darkening may be reversible and eyelash changes
are usually reversible."

Xalatan: About Xalatan
http://www.xalatan.com/about_xalatan/

"Latanoprost may gradually change eye color, increasing the amount of
brown pigment in the iris by increasing the number of melanosomes
(pigment granules) in melanocytes. The long-term effects on the
melanocyles and the consequences of potential injury to the
melanocytes and/or deposition of pigment granules to other areas of
the eye are currently unknown. The change in iris color occurs slowly
and may not be noticeable for several months to years. Patients should
be informed of the possibility of iris color change.

Eyelid skin darkening has also been repoted in association with the
use of latanoprost.

Latanoprost may gradually change eyelashes; these changes include
increased length, thickness, pigmentation, and number of lashes."

RxList: Lanatoprost
http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/latanoprost_wcp.htm

Another drug that is sometimes used in the treatment of glaucoma can,
paradoxically, cause either an increase or a decrease in iris
pigmentation. Levobunolol (sold under the trade name "Betagan")
typically darkens the irises, but on rare occasions the opposite
reaction occurs. Here's an account of one such case. Note the photo
which shows the patient's partially depigmented iris:

"Changes in iris pigmentation occur in relation to many circumstances,
the most topical of which probably is iris hyperpigmentation
associated with the prostaglandin analogue latanoprost. We report on a
case of bilateral iris depigmentation with levobunolol eye drops and
we suggest that changes in local iris prostaglandin concentrations may
be responsible.

CASE REPORT
We report on the case of a 68 year old man who, after 5 years of using
exclusively levobunolol eye drops twice daily to both eyes, reported
that the colour of both of his eyes was changing from brown to blue...
To the best of our knowledge, there has been no previous report of
iris heterochromia following the use of timolol or levobunolol eye
drops."

British Journal of Ophthalmology: A case of acquired iris
depigmentation as a possible complication of levobunolol eye drops
http://bjo.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/83/12/1403c

Some medical conditions, such as Fuch's heterochromic iridocyclitis,
can cause the iris to lose pigment, eventually becoming pale grey or
even white in color:

"Fuchs' heterochromic iridocyclitis is an unusual disease and accounts
for about 3 - 4% of patients with uveitis.  Patients complain about
floaters, problems with glare and blurred vision due to cataracts,
although often patients have no specific complaints, at least
initially.  Sometimes patients are seen because of some color changes
of the iris associated with the disease.  In Fuchs' the iris partly
becomes depigmented and appears white, such that parts of the iris
look of normal color and other parts look almost white."

NIOeyes: Q and A
http://www.nioeyes.com/eyes/care/qanda.htm#Fuch's  

I know of no reliable way to lighten eye color. However, there is a
website which offers a product which claims to do so:

"Tradesa Cosmetic Products is not a company, we are RESEARCH DPT. THAT
HELPS PEOPLE WITH A COMPLEX ACHIEVE A LIGHTER EYE COLOR AND/OR SKIN
COLOR...

Want to try our Eye Lightening sample?

Now you can!

For only 290 USD !!!! you will get a 5 days trial Eye Lightening
sample to try at home. Try our NEW stronger and quicker formula!

Turns brown eyes green in 30 days time. This new formula is 2 times
faster than the original sold over the internet.

Full product price is: 2630 USD"

Tradesa Cosmetic Products
http://www.geocities.com/skinwhitening/

From Tradesa's other site:

"What is Eye Lightening made of and how does it work? 

This unique product is made of 100% totally natural ingredients. Will
lighten your eye color progressively and permanently. In the last year
we have come out with a new quicker and most efficient formula,
showing remarkable visible results from the very first on day session
(session takes 4 minutes).

Research was undertaken with the aim of creating a product that would
help individuals attain a permanent lighter eye color in a progressive
way. This product has been tested in humans since 1995. We started
selling it in 1997. We have customers all around the world since, and
they report results as Excellent."

Tradesa Cosmetic Products
http://www.eyelightening.galeon.com/

I urge caution in dealing with this firm; there are several posts in
online forums which describe users' dissatisfaction with the product
and the company:

"I tried the product and it did not work. The worst part was that the
company has been ignoring me since, and I have sent several emails.
Their only response was to try to sell me and new and improved
product, which probably doesn't work either. I spent months burning my
eyes with their product -they guaranteed a change in eye color in one
month....four months later and there was absolutely no change.
Everyone please save your money, if you have a compaint, they won't
respond. This is a scam."

Bagong Pinay: Forum Message Board
http://www.bagongpinay.com/cgi-bin/forum_spc_HealthFig.cgi?read=1103 

More forum posts about Tradesa may be found here:

New England Eye Center: TRADESA IS A FAKE AND THEY HAVE ADMITTED IT
http://www.neec.com/messages/4063.html

New England Eye Center: drops for blue eyes
http://www.neec.com/messages/4754.html

Here is an article that describes changes in iris color in relation to
alternative medicine, iridology, nutraceuticals, and certain dietary
practices. I recommend taking this kind of info with a grain of salt,
but it does make interesting reading:

Raw Paleolithic Diets: Iris Color Change from Raw Diets, EM and Some
Radical Healing Systems?
http://www.rawpaleodiet.org/iris-color-change-1.html

Google Web Search: "latanoprost" + "change" + "color" + "iris"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=latanoprost+change+color+iris

Google Web Search: "xalatan" + "change" + "color" + "iris"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=xalatan+change+color+iris

Google Web Search: "iris" + "depigmentation"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=iris+depigmentation

Google Web Search: "heterochromic iridocyclitis"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22heterochromic+iridocyclitis

Google Web Search: "eye" + "color" + "lightening"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=eye+color+lightening

I hope this information will be useful. If anything is unclear, please
request clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before
you rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

Thanks pinkfreud, your answer was most informative.

This is not really related to your question, but if you're looking for
a way to hide your "true" eye color, you may be interested in the fact
that a Florida company is developing a test to determine one's iris
color from a genetic sample:

http://www.dnaprint.com/2003/pressreleases/pr_11_20_03.htm

I see by your rating that you were not fully satisfied with my work.
I'm sorry to have disappointed you. When you use Google Answers in the
future, please keep in mind that, as I mentioned in my answer, you can
request clarification and obtain additional assistance before
assigning a rating. If a Researcher has not provided the kind of
information that you were seeking, the request for clarification
offers an opportunity for fine-tuning the answer to meet your needs.

~pinkfreud

I read that alpha-MPT was tested for inhibiting melanin production in
the eyes.  Wouldn't this cause a dark colored eye to turn light?