Over the Counter Natural Cures (18 page)

Garratt and others like her set the bar higher for what we can achieve. Not only did she make it to 100 and beyond, but she got there with her health and faculties largely intact. This is not genetics; it's uncommon sense. The good news is that by using the principles and supplements outlined in this book, more and more of us have a chance of achieving a ripe old age like Jessie and doing it in good health and style.

 

 

 CHAPTER 8 

Chuck Stockdale is a world-renowned stunt pilot. He's been flying for more than twenty-five years. Most of those have been as an air-show stunt pilot, a profession that requires extremely keen eyesight, especially when you're flying upside down twenty feet off the deck at 200 miles per hour. Over the years, Chuck hasn't really given much thought to his vision, except maybe to make sure the visor on his Kevlar flying helmet is smudge-free before takeoff. But today, he is extremely concerned about it.

Flight physicals are required of pilots about every three years. Part of that physical is an eye examination. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) wants to make sure pilots have good color vision, peripheral vision, and overall visual acuity so that they and their flying machines don't end up in someone's living room. In his twenties, Chuck had no problems passing the eye exams. In his late thirties and forties, he had to start squinting to read the fine lines. Most recently, when he passed fifty, Chuck started to lose his keen vision. “I started thinking about what would happen if I couldn't pass the eye test,” Chuck confessed. He feared
a blip on his permanent FAA record, but more than that, he feared losing his talent as a top stunt pilot.

Showing up for his medical exam, he was instantly prompted for a urine sample. After giving it back to the nurse, Chuck took his place in front of the eye chart. The big lines were easy, but as he got to the small print, he realized he had a serious problem.

Chuck describes his embarrassment:

 

I was standing there with the nurse looking at me. I could have sworn she was tapping her foot as I tried to read the next-to-last line: P K U E O B, then…silence for a good two minutes as I tried to focus. The nurse stops me, telling me to try again. After more silence and a few more guesses, she hands me a pair of reading glasses so I can finish.

 

Stockdale thought he was in the clear.

Picking up his medical certificate on the way out, Chuck noticed something on the bottom he had never seen there before—Limitations: Holder shall possess glasses for near vision. Chuck didn't squeak through this time. The limitation was now on his FAA record. But this would be the last time his eyes suffered. I quickly taught him how to stop failing vision.

Like Stockdale, an increasing number of people are losing vision now more than ever. As the population gets older, some are attempting to compensate for waning vision by using brighter light or increasing their computer's font size. If that doesn't work, it's off to the store to buy reading glasses, or worse, a trip to the eye doctor for prescription lenses and even invasive eye surgery. None of these really
solve the underlying
problem
of why failing vision occurs. And they shouldn't be used as the
first line of defense.

Less expensive and nonevasive options exist. Failing vision isn't an inevitable part of aging. Before you resort to drastic measures to improve your vision, use this chapter to learn about the nutrient logic that boosts the “dyes” in your eye, which act as protective antioxidants and light filters. By preserving your visual anatomy with nutrient logic, you can ward off age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma. You also can slow the progression of vision loss caused by diabetic neuropathy.

 

A MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN IGNORED

Vision is often taken for granted. When was the last time you did something to preserve your precious eyesight? Most people don't think about it until something goes wrong, and that's when it can be too late to get it back. Half of all blindness can be prevented. Yet, the number of people in America and worldwide who suffer vision loss continues to increase.

Vision loss is becoming a major public health problem. By the year 2020, the number of people who are blind or have low vision is expected to reach 5.5 million. According to a study sponsored by the National Eye Institute, blindness or low vision affects 3.3 million Americans age forty and over, or one in twenty-eight people.
¹⁰⁷

 

THE AMAZING EYE

Each of us comes equipped with an amazing pair of optical wonders that employ technology light years ahead of any optical system. Even the Hubble telescope, which looks far out into distant galaxies, pales in comparison to the technology of the eye.

In any optical system, nothing is seen unless light is first brought into the picture. Vision starts with light rays bouncing off nearby objects and
blasting our cornea. The pupil then regulates how much of that light makes its way into the eye.

As passage is granted, light continues its journey through a gelatinous mass known as the vitreous humor, which, with laserlike precision, guides light to the retina. This is where the conundrum of photons (light) is corralled and converted into electrical signals, allowing the brain to know what's in our surroundings. You can thank a complex set of photoreceptors within the retina for this interpretation. They receive and record pictures and video better than any camcorder.

Photoreceptors come in two varieties, cones and rods, and each has a different function. Six million or so cones record color vision in bright light. About 125 million rods record black-and-white vision in dim light. They're sensitive enough to respond to even a single photon coming from a faint star at night.

The light information gathered by the cones and rods is transmitted via the optic nerve to the brain where it is decoded and processed into patterns to define the world around us. Without it, we would plow through red lights, wear clothes that don't match, and miss out on life's beauty, detail, and subtlety.

WHEN THE AMAZING EYE FAILS

Rods and cones fail when you don't have enough dye in your eye. These pigments are known technically as xanthophylls and rhodopsin. And just as there are many different colors of crayons, there are different types of eye dyes. The most prominent are found in your cones. They are the yellow lutein (loo-teen), zeaxanthin (zee-uh-zan'-thin), and mesozeaxanthin. Found in your rods is the purple rhodopsin. Common eye problems develop when our eye anatomy or any one of the dyes are damaged or depleted.

AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a condition that primarily affects the part of the retina responsible for sharp central vision. There are two forms of it: dry AMD and wet AMD. Dry AMD is the more common form. Early AMD involves the presence of drusen, fatty deposits under the light-sensing cells in the retina. Late cases of dry AMD may also involve atrophy of the supportive layer under the light-sensing cells in the retina that helps keep those cells healthy.

Wet AMD is less common but more threatening to vision. It's called wet AMD because of the growth of tiny, new blood vessels under the retina that leak fluid or break open. This distorts vision and causes scar tissue to form. All cases of the wet form are considered late AMD.

AMD is a slowly progressive disease that rarely affects those under age fifty, which implies cumulative damage caused by nutritional deficiencies over the years, probably resulting from long-term diets low in antioxidant nutrients. Being deficient in antioxidants can lead to free-radical damage within the eye and harm the light-sensing retinal cells. This can cause them to become inflamed with fat deposits, atrophy, or leak fluid. Because AMD often damages central vision, it is the most common cause of legal blindness and vision impairment in older Americans.

CATARACTS

A cataract is a clouding of the lens in our eye. Depending upon its size and location, it can interfere with normal vision. Much like a camera lens might get foggy in cold weather, the lens in our eye fails to process light or focus. A cataract occurs when the proteins that make up the lens clump together. This serves as a blockage to light and results in loss of vision. According to the World Health Organization, cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in the world. Most cataracts appear with advancing
age. Some theorize that a cataract may be the result of a lifetime of exposure to ultraviolet radiation contained in sunlight or related to other lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking or alcohol consumption. These are likely factors, but I believe prolonged nutritional deficiency is the main cause. This is supported by studies that suggest an association between proteins clumping together and low levels of antioxidants like vitamin C, selenium, vitamin E, glutathione, and carotenoids.
¹⁰⁸
Like aging skin that wrinkles due to lack of antioxidants, all of these help ensure the structural integrity of proteins, which is why the more we eat, the healthier the retina.

Treatment of cataracts involves surgical removal of the clouded natural lens, which is usually replaced with an artificial intraocular lens implant. Cataract surgery, like most surgical procedures, treats the symptoms of an unknown cause and is not really a cure. Nutrient logic could be.

GLAUCOMA

Called “the sneak thief of sight” by some, glaucoma is the most common cause of blindness in the United States. It's especially insidious because there's no associated pain and it can progress to an advanced stage before peripheral vision drops out and signals a problem. For this reason, many people with glaucoma may be unaware of their plight. It is a disease that causes a
gradual
death of cells that make up the optic nerve, the cable that carries visual information from the eye to the brain. Again, we're seeing a recurring theme here with these eye diseases:
they occur slowly
over time
.

The American way is to eat junk food, live for today, hope for the best, and then when we can't see Jack, have someone drive us to visit the eye doctor. But it doesn't have to be that way. By applying the information in this chapter and getting an eye examination if you detect any of the
symptoms mentioned, you can
act now
to protect yourself, rather than
reacting later
when it may be too late.

Most cases of glaucoma exhibit elevated fluid pressure (intraocular pressure) outside normal limits. Upon detecting this rise, most eye specialists simply monitor the condition while it gets worse, instead of suggesting better diet and exercise. At a certain point, eyedrops are prescribed to stabilize the pressure, and patients are told they will probably be using the drops for the rest of their lives. But are these drugs really necessary?

Research has shown that glaucoma patients who take a brisk forty-minute walk five days a week for three months can reduce their eye pressure by approximately 2.5 millimeters.
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This substantial reduction is probably due to improved circulation, because most eye problems associated with degeneration are related to circulatory inefficiency in some way. Decreased blood supply keeps enough oxygen and essential nutrients from reaching our eye tissues. Waste is also not removed, and the end products of metabolism can build up and damage cells.

Many cases of glaucoma can be controlled and vision loss slowed or halted by natural treatments such as bilberry fruit extract. This natural supplement contains more than fifteen anthocyanosides that help to maintain the integrity of retinal blood vessels, stabilize collagen, and improve circulation. This extract, along with a half-dozen other powerful supplements, comprise the potent blend I recommend at the end of this chapter.

MUST-KNOW EYE HEALTH FOR DIABETICS

Diabetic retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes that can affect tiny blood vessels in the eyes. Overloaded with excess blood sugar, retinal blood vessels can break down, leak, or become blocked, impairing vision over time.