| DThe training of our eye doctors in this
country is very comprehensive
there have been major advances
in treatment of eye disease and
even laser surgery to correct
nearsightedness, farsightedness,
and astigmatism is available today.
But it doesn't really correct
the underlying problem of why
it is there to begin with. Eye
care in this country is symptom
oriented. In our training as eye
doctors we’re taught that once
something goes wrong with your
eyes there is not much that can
be done to help reverse the condition.
Vision problems are multiplying
at epidemic proportions in our
society. The eye care industry
is a multi-billion dollar business.
Glasses, contact lenses, and eye
surgery are the major tools of
that industry and these enter
the lives of virtually all of
the citizens of the Western world.
Aldous Huxley wrote in his book
The Art of Seeing”, that if everyone
who had deficient vision had broken
legs, the streets would be full
of cripples." Patients come in
year after year, their eyesight
getting worse. Conventional eye
care professionals just give them
stronger and stronger glasses.
Something is wrong with this picture.
Cataracts are present to some
degree in nearly all adults over
the age of 70 years old. These
patients are told, "Let's wait
until the cataract "ripens"(gets
worse), and then we can remove
it surgically." Something is wrong
with this picture. Patients with
macular degeneration and glaucoma
are told, " We'll watch it and
try to keep it under control."
The amount of children in our
schools being labeled learning
disabled and/or Attention Deficit
Disorder (ADD) is increasing every
year. Where is the much needed
prevention, education and rehabilitation?
something is wrong with this picture
as well. People think that eye
problems are just a natural course
of life's process, but people’s
vision can improve. When people
are given so called "corrective"
lenses they are being sold a false
bill of goods. "Corrective" lenses
don't really correct anything.
Most of the time when people get
their glasses it usually causes
more dependency on them along
with the eyes losing some of their
natural flexibility. I’m interested
in an aggressive prevention program
so that many eye conditions can
be prevented and corrected. So
what's is wrong with the conventional
treatment for certain eye conditions.
Let's look at nearsightedness
and glaucoma. For example, if
you need glasses the eye doctor
will prescribe them and you will
thank them then pay them for the
eye examination and glasses. In
a couple of years or sooner the
prescription may not be good enough
for you to see clearly so you
will come back get another examination
and probably get stronger glasses
and thank them and pay them again.
If you have glaucoma, a similar
same thing happens. You come to
the office and you may get eye
drops to help stabilize the pressure
and are told that you will probably
be on these eye drops the rest
of your life. Where is the prevention,
and or rehabilitation? We have
to look at vision the same way
that Chinese medicine looks at
disease. We look at not if "X"
causes "Y "but what is the relationship
between "X" and "Y". The eye is
an extension of brain tissue and
it reflects what your thinking
and feeling. The eyes help us
adapt to the world and they give
us an indication of how we are
adapting to the world. It is the
primary way we take in information.
For instance, nearsightedness
doesn’t just happen. Did you know
that 90 percent of accountants
are nearsighted, but less than
10 percent of farmers are? That’s
because accountants spend a lot
of time focused on up close tasks
and farmers are usually looking
out across the fields. The brain
says "if you make me do close
work all day, you will have to
give up something" and that something
is the ability to see at a distance,
so obviously how we use and abuse
our eyes affects what happens
to them. This concept is not usually
taken into consideration by most
eye doctors. In nearsightedness,
I use the analogy of training
for a marathon. If your are going
to graduate school, law school,
medical school, etc. and there
is an extremely large amount of
reading that needs to be done,
so we need to keep our eye muscles
flexible in order to handle the
amount of close work more easily.
Also proper posture, lighting,
taking vision and body breaks
and proper nutrition all play
a part in helping our eyes. Now
in glaucoma let’s say your 55
years old and you have borderline
high intraocular pressure which
is a possible early sign of glaucoma.
The doctor will test your visual
field to make sure your peripheral
vision is not affected and if
your visual field and optic nerve
looks normal and the pressure
is borderline. The doctor will
usually just say come back in
3 to 6 months and we will watch
it and if it gets to high we will
give you medication. Again very
rarely is there anything given
preventively to help lower the
pressure. But many things can
help, such as paying attention
to the following: 1. Stress- in
glaucoma as far back as 1818 researchers
linked stress to glaucoma. One
study showed that glaucoma patients
tend to be perfectionists, nervous,
anxiety ridden and/or hypersensitive.
In Chinese medicine glaucoma is
linked to the liver meridian.
The emotion associated with the
Liver anger/frustration. I may
suggest to a patient with glaucoma,
that instead of suppressing anger,
feel it, but don't fear it. I
tell them to try meditation, tai
chi and psychotherapy and remember
to smile. 2. Smoking- avoid smoking,
it more than doubles the incidence
of cataracts , glaucoma, and macular
degeneration, by stressing the
nerve cells in the macula and
reduces the quality of blood circulation
3. Physical Exercise- research
has shown that glaucoma patients
who take a brisk 40 minute walk
5 days a week for three months
can reduce their eye pressure
by approximately 2.5 mm. 4. Diet-fruits
and vegetables, drink 8-10 glasses
of water per day but not with
food-30 minutes before a meal
or 2 hours after a meal optimally,
avoid sugars, fried foods, alcohol,
caffeine. 5. Nutritional supplementation-alpha
lipoic acid-200mg, vitamin C-3000
mg, Coenzyme Q10-100mg, essential
fatty acids—omega 3’s-1500mg-black
currant seed, flax see, cold water
fish-salmon mackerel, magnesium-
500 mg-to help relax the smooth
muscles that are what regulates
the outflow of aqueous humor from
the inner eye. 6. Body work-chiropractic,
massage therapy, cranial-sacral
etc My philosophy is that people
are more than an interesting set
of symptoms that must be treated
with the proper drug or glasses.
We function on several levels;
emotional, spiritual, and physical.
It is important to take all of
these levels into consideration
when treating a patient, because
merely treating the physical symptoms
of the condition does not address
how that condition impacts and
emerges from all of those levels
of your being. So in treating
the eye all these factors must
be taken into consideration. Let’s
start with nutrition, because
more than 25 per cent of the nutrients
we absorb from our food go to
nourish the visual system. The
diet plan I prescribe emphasizes
a variety of whole foods, because
the body does not use each vitamin
or mineral in isolation. The diet
I recommend includes the following:
1) whole grains including brown
rice, millet, spelt and buckwheat,
2) sea vegetables such as dulse,
nori and hijiki because they are
high in minerals, 3) fresh fruits
and vegetables such as kale, collard
greens and spinach. These greens
are especially good for the eyes
since they have amounts of lutein,
which is a carotenoid that studies
have proven helps protect the
macula of the eye and the lens
of the eye. This is particularly
important for macula degeneration.
But no matter how wholesome and
pure our food might be, there
are factors that affect its nutrient
content. How it is grown, how
it is stored, and how it is cooked.
Your age, health, activity level
and stress also can affect what
your body needs and how well it
uses the nutrients from your diet.
This is where supplements come
in. I routinely recommend vitamin
and mineral supplements to my
patients Besides relieving pain,
acupressure can rebalance qi throughout
the body. I’ve found acupressure
to be very beneficial in the treatment
of eye disease and I recommend
it since a patient can do it themselves.
Both eye and physical exercise
are extremely important in the
treatment and prevention of eye
conditions because it raises oxygen
levels in the cells and increases
lymph and blood circulation. From
a Chinese standpoint, eye problems
mean there is a stagnant energy
and exercise helps get rid of
the stagnation. This increased
circulation revitalizes the organs
and glands and speeds up detoxification
of the body. I recommend that
you gently build up to aerobic
exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes
per day, four days a week. The
following are some important tips
to keep our eyes vibrant and alive.
Don’t keep your eyes focused in
one place for a sustained period
of time. Change your focus, look
up and out a window if possible,
just keep your eyes moving, sustained
contraction of the eyes leads
to contraction of the entire upper
body. And don’t stare that also
causes tension in the visual system.
Get at least 20 minutes of natural
sunlight a day minimum. The eyes
are light sensing organs so its
important to get sunlight so that
they can work optimally. Quit
smoking!!! This is probably the
number on eye irritant. Somokers
have a 50 to 100 per cent increased
risk for every eye disease. Avoid
sugar; it depletes the body of
the nutrients the eyes need. And
avoid alcohol since it causes
stress to the liver, which is
where Vitamin A is processed.
For more information on how to
keep your eye healthy contact
us at http://www.naturaleyecare.com
or 1-888-735-8475 Dr. Grossman
is one of the leading holistic
eye doctors, has been in practice
for over 27 years, and is the
author of a number of 5 books
on natural eye care including
the following: co-author of Magic
Eye - A 3D Guide (Andrews and
McMeel, 1995), Natural Vision
Care - An Encyclopedia (Keats
Publishing) printed in April,
1999, Greater Vision (McGraw Hill)
printed in September, 200, and
“Natural Eye Care: A Comprehensive
Manual for Practitioners of Oriental
Medicine”, which is a 230-page
manual describing both the Western
and Eastern approaches to preserving
eyesight for over 20 specific
eye conditions. His newest book
was just released in June, 2004
and is entitled Beyond 3D : Improve
Your Vision with Magic Eye by
Marc Grossman (Author), Magic
Eye Inc. (Author) Dr. Grossman
lectures nationally on topics
such as Natural Vision Improvement,
Vision and Nutrition, Psycho-Emotional
Aspects of Visual Conditions,
Vision & Learning, Holistic Integrative
Visual Therapy, and Chinese Medicine
and Vision Care. |
