Fwd: [S-A] Avoiding Visual Degeneration

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" Misty L. Trepke "

Thu, 02 Oct 2003 16:33:23 -0000

[s-A] [ElectroHerbalism] Avoiding Visual Degeneration

 

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Misty L. Trepke

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Avoiding Visual Degeneration

 

The following extract form <JosephHattersleyJoseph

G.

Hattersley's partly published

<http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/eye

specists-D.doc>Avoiding Visual Degeneration " paper is required

reading as it provides some solid information on how to retain one's

vision among other things. Once again the importance of proper

nutrition is again a the recurrent theme. While this may seem to

some as a non issue - it is the de facto route to health and simply

cannot be overlooked. The full paper, with proper formatting, side

bars and two and half pages of citations, can be accessed by

clicking on the above title.

 

Chris Gupta

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2003/09/28/avoiding_visual_dege

neration.htm

---

---

---------------------

Part I. Do physicians really and truly want to help their patients,

even if it might cost them a lot of business? Ophthalmologists

withheld from two of my friends, information that might have saved

their vision.

 

An article in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)

November 2, 1994, sings the praises of spinach. People who ate

Popeye's favorite daily suffered only one-tenth as much age-related

macular degeneration (AMD) as those who seldom ate spinach. And for

patients with the condition, eating spinach prevented worsening.

 

Research has now confirmed that three to four portions of spinach

weekly can reverse at least early AMD. " Dr. Richer, chief of the

optometry section at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs in North Chicago,

recently tested 14 patients who were showing the first signs of AMD.

After just 12 weeks of eating three to four portions of spinach a

week, those in the study showed 60% to 80% improvement in their AMD

tests. Among the eight who had either a hole or a distortion in

their vision, for seven the problem either improved or disappeared

completely. "

 

The macula is a light-sensitive part of the central retinal area

near the optic nerve; it provides sharp central visual acuity. AMD

is the leading cause of blindness among American, Canadian and

English elderly, and it afflicts nearly 40 percent of the more than

10 million Americans with diabetes. AMD is a cousin of coronary

heart disease, and shares with it a common ancestor:

atherosclerosis. Free radicals promote and speed macular

degeneration as well as aging, heart disease, arthritis, and

Alzheimer's disease, among others.

 

The benefits result largely from spinach's thousands of carotenoids,

which are phytonutrients (plant nutrients) related to and including

carotenes. " High concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin, both of

them carotenoids, are found in [and so, presumably, required by] the

retina of the eye, explaining why consuming them in diet protects

against macular degeneration. " New research finds that eggs may be

an especially good source of lutein and zeaxanthin because

substances in the yolk make it easier for the body to absorb these

compounds. It is already known that eating eggs does not elevate

risk of heart attack; in fact, published research found that those

who ate more eggs had fewer heart attacks. So such findings

strengthen our recommendation to eat whole, natural foods

including all the eggs we want.

 

Besides AMD, many of these fight cancers and other afflictions; and

they do it better than beta-carotene, the only carotenoid found in

most vitamin supplements. Other dark-green leafy vegetables such as

kale, collards, and Brussels sprouts offer much the same multiple

nutrients/-vitamin/mineral benefits.

 

Two anecdotes reveal the extent of the eye-specialist problem.

 

A few years ago a bridge-playing friend of ours went to his eye

doctor with early macular degeneration. The doctor never mentioned

kale, chard, spinach or green tea. And now our friend can no longer

hunt deer, play bridge, repair things, read or engage in other much

loved activities.

 

A neighbor's mother had very advanced AMD; her eye doctor was using

lasers on her and more, yet the condition was worsening. My friend

noticed a huge bottle of

<http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2003/06/04/aspirin_the_bitter_

pill_that_kills.htm>aspirin

in her mother's house and suggested she stop taking it. After that,

her eye condition stabilized. Why?

 

(a) A letter in New England Journal of Medicine in 1988 reported

that aspirin can cause AMD. JD Kingham, MD, wrote, " Since 1983 at

our clinic, many elderly patients who present with decreased central

vision and macular hemorrhage [the most severe form of AMD] have a

history of recent ingestion of aspirin and other drugs known to

affect platelet function or the coagulation process. "

 

(b) And patients with blocked arteries to the brain (a dangerous

stroke situation) have three times as many strokes from ruptured

arteries if they are taking an aspirin a day.

 

Dr. Kingham's discovery and that reported in Medical Tribune have

not been confirmed. But a massive computer literature search by Kirk

Hamilton, PA, publisher of Clinical Pearls News, Sacramento, CA,

found no refutation. So there is at least a caution flag on long-

term aspirin.

 

Fortunately, aspirin's anti-clotting benefits in lowering risk of

heart attack and stroke can be obtained without side effects in at

least two ways. (a) White willow bark, which the Greek physician

Dioscorides used in the first century AD. People with a headache

long chewed white willow bark. Bayer Co. derived aspirin itself from

the bark, modifying the molecule to make it patentable. This

modification is the source of excess bleeding, digestive upsets,

worsened gut permeability and 3,000 U.S. deaths a year

from aspirin poisoning, as well as the risk of ultimate blindness.

 

Jonathan V. Wright, MD, a leading alternative/integrative

practitioner in Kent, WA has found that two 400-milligram capsules

of the powdered bark provide about the same amount of salicin, the

active ingredient, as a baby aspirin. Four such capsules thin the

blood as effectively as an adult aspirin. (See Part 2.)

 

(b) Another alternative: three glasses daily of purple grape juice

can reduce platelet aggregation as much as a daily aspirin. " Blood

platelets floating in a juice solution clotted about 30% less than

platelets not in the juice, and released three times more chemicals

that widen blood vessels and inhibit clots. " And unlike aspirin, the

flavonoids in purple grape juice remain effective when adrenaline

levels rise. In another test, purple grape juice lowered

susceptibility of LDL-cholesterol to oxidation.

 

Also, a published clinical test showed melatonin lowers eyeball

pressure in glaucoma patients. The insomnia age group - for whom its

use is safe and appropriate at 1 to 5 milligrams before bedtime --

is the same as the glaucoma age group.

 

Macular degeneration and diet. (1) In rats, excitotoxins rapidly

damage the macula, offering a new slant on burgeoning AMD. They

wreak many other ill effects on people consuming processed foods.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG),

<http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/09/26/dropping_like_flies_

poisoned_by_aspartame.htm>aspartame

(Nutra-Sweet®) and nearly all processed foods contain dangerous

quantities of glutamate, aspartate, cysteine and related compounds.

These excitotoxic drugs, added to foods, discharge nerve cells in

the mouth to augment the sensation of flavor. Addictive Aspartame

breaks down into carcinogenic, eye-destroying formaldehyde and

deadly methyl alcohol.

 

The public long ago began to be aware of some of the risks of MSG;

and so, to hide the deadly character of their products, food

processing companies adopted a laundry list of innocent-sounding

labels. Avoid all diet foods, diet drinks, and such products as

Accent, autolyzed yeast, HVP, hydrolyzed or texturized vegetable

protein -- especially bad because they contain three excitotoxins --

hydrolyzed plant protein, Kombu extract, Chinese seasoning, gourmet

powder, RL50, broth, bouillon, caseinate, flavoring and

natural flavoring. (It doesn't have to be labeled when it's in ice

cream.) Any of these are even more dangerous when heated.

 

" Natural " ? MSG is found in, e.g., tomatoes and mushrooms -- but at

about 1,000th of the concentration used in food processing.

Incredibly, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules permit

processed foods to contain large amounts of MSG but be labeled " no

MSG added. "

 

(2) Eating one ounce of Olestra (Olean®)-containing chips daily for

two weeks lowered vision-protective carotene levels by 50 percent.

 

The eye specialists could perhaps be excused for not knowing about

how full spectrum light helps the eyes, and for not knowing that MSG-

and aspartame-polluted foods and Olean promote macular

degeneration. But both of them probably to JAMA and New

England Journal of Medicine, and so they had no excuse for keeping

quiet about kale, spinach and aspirin except their own financial

self-interest. They were wrong to deprive their patients of that

healing news and should be held responsible. Class-action

lawyers might look into this. Ophthalmologists may complain that

telling patients these truths could put them out of business. But

after cars replaced buggies, buggy-whip makers couldn't force people

to buy buggy whips. They learned new trades, and so can those eye

specialists.

 

Part II. A. Dr. Jonathan V. Wright's treatment. Dr. Wright said to

take selenium, taurine, vitamin E and zinc. And put DMSO (dimethyl

sulfoxide, a solvent obtainable at health food stores and paint

stores) on any part of the skin. The DMSO, which itself offers

powerful healing features, is a necessary part of the procedure: it

strongly increases absorption of these nutrients. Some patients of

his recovered from macular degeneration using this therapy and have

stayed clear of it for as long as four years. The method works

better in some cases than others.

 

The quantities, written on a prescription form:

Zinc, preferably picolinate, 30 mg x 2 = 60 mg/day;* zinc is best

absorbed when taken half an hour before breakfast; in a few, this

timing may cause nausea. The eye contains more zinc than any other

part of the body. Vitamin E, 800 mg/day Selenium, 500 micrograms/day

Taurine: 620 mg x 2 twice a day = 2+ grams/day. The label

instructions say not to use this amino acid when taking aspirin or

any product containing aspirin; take between meals or before a meal.

* Taking zinc supplement of this magnitude, you should have a

red-blood-cell copper blood test ($40, not paid by insurance) every

two months; and 500 mcg of selenium daily cannot continue for a long

time.

 

Full-spectrum light is also effective against seasonal depression

( " SAD " ). Nonseasonal depression benefits too, but not as much. It

has other major health benefits including reduction of tooth decay.

It has also greatly improved behavior of previously UV-deprived

children. For full-spectrum light fixtures, consult

www.ottbiolight.com. Cheaper equipment is inferior.

 

Vitamin D and calcium. Arthur A. Knapp, MD, used 50,000 units of

vitamin D and one gram of calcium on intermittent days. These helped

against eye conditions including myopia, keratoconus, cataract,

optic nerve atrophy and retinitis pigmentosa.

 

A related problem affects people with asthma. Inhaled steroids,

intended to block or reduce inflammation, were long claimed not to

circulate throughout the body. Yet for many older patients they

promote glaucoma, the leading cause of blindness in the population.

The risk appeared to be elevated by 44 percent compared to matched

patients not using inhaled steroids. Lea Davies of Georgetown

University Medical Center in Washington, DC, adds that

inhaled steroids may cause about one-third of the 3,000 glaucoma

cases developing each year among Americans over 65. Inhaled steroids

reduce bone density in the spines of women with asthma. The greater

the cumulative dose of inhaled steroids, the greater the reduction

in bone mineral density of the spine in women.

 

" The drugs commonly used in the treatment of allergic conditions,

including asthma, have many potentially harmful and dangerous side

effects. These antihistamines, steroid hormones, or xanthine

derivatives have side effects that may be merely annoying to a child

but in many instances are dangerous. For example, steroid treatment

of asthmatic children has been demonstrated to retard lung

maturation and physical growth and to cause a higher incidence of

cataracts in children receiving long-term steroid therapy. "

 

 

 

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