About VoJ
& Dr Bates

Various Inner Vision Links
In The News

Stories and articles that are in the news about improving eyesight naturally.
If you have an article that may be appropriate for inclusion on this page, please e-mail it to me.
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Article index:
- An interview with Esther Joy van der Werf on tropicwaveradio.net
(March 2008) 
- Windows on the Mind
(July 2007)
- Economic Impact of Vision Problems in the U.S. Estimated at $51.4 Billion (April 2007)
- Court orders See Clearly Method off the market
(November 2006)
- The Eye of God
(October 2006)
- The harder you look, the less you see
(September 2006)
- Watching TV can make you myopic
(January 2006)
- Smoking Nearly Triples Risk of Age-Linked Vision Loss
(December 2005)
- Natural Eyesight Improvement
(October 2005)
- Dr Grace Halloran - Obituary
(August 2005)
- Phytonutrients Are Essential for Healthy Eyes
(January 2005)
- Leafy Green Veggies Protect Eyes and Prevent Damage to the Lens of the Eye
(December 2004)
- Heavy Computer Use Linked to Glaucoma
(December 2004)
- Lead Exposure linked to Cataracts
(December 2004)
- Lifestyle Blamed for Rise in Myopia in East Asia
(July 2004)
- Dr. Kaplan presents talk on vision therapy at United Nations in Vienna, Austria
(June 2004)
- Study: Not all kids with glasses need them
(June 2004)
- Fruit 'helps prevent eye disease' (June 2004)
- Short-sightedness may be tied to refined diet
(April 2002)
- Heresy (late 13th century)

 
Raw Health Talk - Interview on Tropic Wave Radio. 18 March 2008
Listen to a recording of this radio interview.  You'll hear Roe Gallo talk with Esther about her work as natural vision educator.  Get tips on improving your vision!  Free to listen.  Approximately 1 hour.   Go here to listen.
 

Windows on the Mind
By Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen L Macknik, Scientific American, August 2007 issue.

Once scorned as nervous tics, certain tiny, unconscious flicks of the eyes now turn out to underpin much of our ability to see. These movements may even reveal subliminal thoughts.  

As you read this, your eyes are rapidly flicking from left to right in small hops, bringing each word sequentially into focus. When you stare at a person’s face, your eyes will similarly dart here and there, resting momentarily on one eye, the other eye, nose, mouth and other features. With a little introspection, you can detect this frequent flexing of your eye muscles as you scan a page, face or scene.

But these large voluntary eye movements, called saccades, turn out to be just a small part of the daily workout your eye muscles get.  Your eyes never stop moving, even when they are apparently settled, say, on a person's nose or a sailboat bobbing on the horizon.  When the eyes fixate on something, as they do for 80 percent of your waking hours, they still jump and jiggle imperceptibly in ways that turn out to be essential for seeing.  If you could somehow halt these miniature motions while fixing your gaze, a static scene would simply fade from view.

And yet only recently have researchers come to appreciate the profound importance of such "fixational" eye movements. For five decades, a debate has raged about whether the largest of these involuntary movements, the so-called microsaccades, serve any purpose at all.  Some scientist have opined that microsaccades might even impair eyesight by blurring it.  But recent work in the laboratory of one of us (Martinez-Conde) at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix has made the strongest case yet that these minuscule ocular meanderings separate vision from blindness when a person looks out at a stationary world.
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Esther's comment:  
The article goes on to describe how saccadic movement is necessary for vision, that  these movements are linked to our attention, and that staring means fading of vision.  Dr William H Bates, MD knew all this a century ago and wrote about it in his 1920 book Perfect Sight Without Glasses.  Although this information obviously isn't 'new', it's a pretty good article.

 

Economic Impact of Vision Problems in the U.S. Estimated at $51.4 Billion
New Report Highlights Increasing Burden of Vision Problems on Americans

CHICAGO (April 18, 2007) – Prevent Blindness America today released a new report estimating the costs associated with adult vision problems in the United States at $51.4 billion. The Economic Impact of Vision Problems: The Toll of Major Adult Eye Disorders, Visual Impairment, and Blindness on the U.S. Economy provides both the costs to the individual and their caregivers, and the impact on the U.S. economy of vision conditions including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataract, diabetic retinopathy, primary open-angle glaucoma, refractive error, visual impairment and blindness.

Read the rest of this Press release
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Esther's comment:  
According to Richard Wallingford, OD, president of the American Optometric Association, approximately 25 percent of all school aged children have vision problems.  
"Sixty percent of people aged 65 and over have cataracts nationwide, and that (percentage) increases with age" says John Ciccone, director of communications for the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery in Fairfax, VA, 

These numbers are an indication of the enormity of the problem of vision deterioration.  I've heard estimates that more than 80% of the population in the USA has vision problems.  Our eyesight challenges seem to be getting worse, not better, despite well over 32,000 optometrists (according to the AOA website) currently in practice in the United States alone.  What is wrong with this picture?!?  

Optometrists advise us to have regular, preferably annual, eye exams, so they can prescribe compensating lenses at the earliest sign of vision deterioration.  However, the obvious tendency is for vision to get worse, not better, when glasses or contacts are worn.  Glasses are a nuisance, contacts are not much better, and in general most users of compensating lenses are not satisfied with having to use these crutches for the rest of their lives.  Out of despair people turn to laser operations in large numbers, while cataract sufferers wait for the 'ripening' of their cataracts so they can have lens replacement surgery.  
Is there another option?  Is there a natural approach to solving these many vision challenges?

Dr William H Bates, MD, discovered that eye-strain is the major cause of vision deterioration and he set out to find the solution.  He concluded that the tension on the muscles around the eyes could be released by simple relaxation techniques, and that applying these techniques resulted in a speedy return to clear vision for most people.  His methods are still taught today, even if few teachers have a thorough understanding of how to apply it.  Still, the key to reducing the cost and number of vision problems IS available.  Those who have eyes to see, will find it...
(see also a more extensive article on this subject written by Esther Joy van der Werf.)

 

Court Orders Vision Improvement Technologies to End Sales of "See Clearly Method" Kit 
(Iowa Office of the Attorney General, 2 November 2006)

DES MOINES.   The Polk County District Court has ordered Vision Improvement Technologies, Inc., to stop all sales immediately of its so-called natural vision improvement kit called the "See Clearly Method." The Court also ordered the Fairfield company to pay $200,000 for consumer restitution.

The Court order resolves a consumer fraud lawsuit filed last year by Attorney General Tom Miller, which alleged that the company could not substantiate claims that the "See Clearly Method" improved people's vision so much that they would no longer need glasses or contact lenses.

The "See Clearly Method" was a kit of manuals, charts, videos and audio-tapes demonstrating eye exercises and other techniques, such as focusing eyes using special charts or props, facing a bright light with eyes closed at a distance of a few inches, covering eyes with hands for sustained periods, and applying hot and cold wash cloths over closed eyes. The company sold tens of thousands of the kits for about $350 apiece.

"The company made dramatic claims for its product that it could not substantiate," Miller said. "They represented that consumers who used the method could quickly and easily free themselves of having to wear glasses or contact lenses. They used illegal tactics including exaggerated claims of effectiveness, false implications of scientific validity, and misleading consumer testimonials in advertising," he said.

"We also alleged that a so-called 'risk-free' 30-day trial period was deceptively presented and ended up forcing many consumers to pay hundreds of dollars apiece for a product that they wanted to return because it did not help them," Miller said.
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Esther's comment:
I agree with the court order, and I am glad this product will no longer be for sale.  I am eager for people to learn about natural vision improvement through the Bates Method, yet products like the See Clearly Method mislead many people into believing that natural vision improvement involves eye exercises.  It doesn't.  People who have good vision do not do eye exercises.  Blurry vision is not due to a lack of eye exercises!  Therefore eye exercises are not the solution.  Muscles that are tight from strain do not need exercises put on top of their strain.  They need relaxation first and foremost.  Learn the Bates Method from an experienced teacher, and you'll soon know the difference.  Actually, you'll SEE the difference.

 
A little off-track, but hey, forgive me ...
This image is titled 'The Eye of God' and was taking by NASA's Hubble Telescope.

Worth seeing, wouldn't you agree?

Now that we're on this subject...
I heard that the Universe has a few 'Black Holes' in it somewhere, which gobble up light, which is then never to be seen again.  
I think those scientists are definitely looking beyond their own noses (that's a Dutch expression), because we all possess a couple of black holes, which gobble up light, never to be seen again....

those black holes are right in the middle of our very own irises...
  
I'm talking about:
                                    Pupils !

 
Harder you look, the less you see  30 September 2006  BBC NEWS
The harder you focus on something, the less well you may actually see it, US researchers have discovered.

This paradox, described in Nature Neuroscience, might explain how it is possible to miss visual cues.
Volunteers asked to pay close attention to black and white stripes were less able to discern them as a result.
The New York University team believe prolonged attention to an unchanging image effectively 'exhausts' vision after helping it initially.

Sustained attention can actually worsen perception

Usually when we attend to something performance is better.  But not always" ~ Researcher Marisa Carrasco

Researchers know that it is easier to see objects when there is more contrast between their lighter and darker areas.
Previous work has suggested that paying closer attention to or focusing on an object makes it easier to see by effectively increasing this contrast.  Although focusing your sight on an object is helpful initially, investigators Samuel Ling and Marisa Carrasco found that this benefit soon fades.

Dr Carrasco explained: "Usually when we attend to something performance is better. But not always.  "If, for example, you are monitoring a screen and all the time you attend to a particular location on that screen then you are not going to be sensitive after a while. "It's really paradoxical because you would think you are doing your best by focusing your attention."

Evolutionary advantage
The researchers believe this paradox may have an evolutionary advantage.  For example, tuning out visual information that you have already processed frees up the brain's limited resources to detect changes in other parts of the environment - a necessary ability for animals preyed upon in the wild.  But this can also backfire, Dr Will Curran, from the School of Psychology at Queen's University of Belfast, pointed out.  Predators can take advantage of this too, staying still for prolonged periods between intermittent advances on their prey until they are within striking distance, he said.

Professor Peter McOwan, professor of Computer Science at Queen Mary, University of London, said: "These results show a fascinating new kind of attentional illusion - the longer you 'look' the less you 'see'.  "Discovering and examining illusions like these will really help us understand how human perception works.  "Visual attention helps us decide what's important, and understanding how this works in humans may allow us to build smarter computer vision systems that know what to look for."

The researchers stressed that their findings should not be any cause for real concern in everyday life.
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Esther's comment:  Did they really think they discovered something new here?  The 'longer you look', the harder you try,  the more you stare, the worse the image gets!  Dr Bates knew this a century ago!  He said we should never try to see anything.
Well, they finally figure something out that's true, and then downplay the truth by saying there "should not be any cause for real concern in everyday life".  So please ignore this discovery, keep staring, else we'll have an increase in people who see well...

 
Watching TV can make you myopic
The Hindustan Times, January 5, 2006 (thanks to Adam Schwarz for submitting this article)

A new study has revealed that an excessive indoor lifestyle is the sole reason for the epidemic proportions of myopia in East Asian countries.  According to the researchers, children who spend most of the time indoors, either glaring at their computer games or glued to the television or read excessively, are most likely to suffer from myopia.

"As kids spend more time indoors, on computers or watching telly, we are going to become just as myopic," Ian Morgan of the Australian National University in Canberra was quoted by New Scientist as saying.  In countries like Singapore, the problem of short sightedness has increased to such an extent that departments like the police are having problems in finding
people who meet their requirements of 6/6 eyesight and the number of myopic men in army has gone risen to as high as 80 per cent.

To unravel the reason behind such a high number of myopic cases in this region Ian Morgan and Kathryn Rose from University of Sydney studied 40 cases and have refuted the conventional view that people here suffer from sight problems
due to genetic causes.  For instance, 70 per cent of 18-year-old men of Indian origin living in Singapore have myopia, while in India itself the rate is roughly 10 per cent.  "The simplest explanation is that you have a massive environmental effect that
is swamping out the genetic influence," Morgan added.
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Esther's comment: Good to see that the idea of myopia being due to genetics is under scrutiny.  I believe that those who spend many hours watching TV or computer screens can avoid nearsightedness if they learn to use their eyes correctly.

 
Smoking Nearly Triples Risk of Age-Linked Vision Loss
Smoking greatly increases the risk of vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration, and that risk hits both smokers and people who live with them, a new study shows.
Macular degeneration is a progressive eye disease that is the leading cause of partial vision loss and blindness in the United States and many European countries.  Reporting in the current issue (December 2005) of the British Journal of Ophthalmology, researchers studied 435 people with end-stage macular degeneration and 280 people who lived with them.

People who regularly smoked a pack of cigarettes or more a day for 40 years had nearly triple the risk of age-related macular degeneration compared with non-smokers.  Smoking increased the risk of both of the two main types of macular degeneration, the researches noted.  However, quitting smoking for 20 years or more reduced the risk to a level comparable with people who'd never smoked.  The study also found that non-smokers who lived with smokers for five years or more had nearly double the risk of age-related macular degeneration.
The macula, located at the center of the retina at the back of the eye, is crucial for the fine central vision necessary for tasks such as driving and reading.

 
Natural Eyesight Improvement
by Esther 'Joy' van der Werf
(This article was first published in Living Nutrition Magazine, October 2005)

Seeing, like breathing, is something we do without much conscious thought.  However, some of us have stopped breathing fully - now breathing shallowly instead, and some of us have stopped seeing effortlessly - now straining to see instead. Somewhere along the line, something interfered with our natural habits, and we started on a downhill slide.  Can you remember a time when your vision was perfect?  What happened when it began to deteriorate?  Were you doing lots of reading or close up work?  Did you go through a stressful period?  Was there an accident?  When I ask these questions many people discover a link between the beginning of their vision problems and a major change in their life.  For one person it was a neck injury, someone else went through divorce, yet another had a hard time living up to expectations during college, and one person realized his vision problems began when he got a job involving long hours working indoors without windows. Tracing the initial cause may help us understand the current problem and can be the first step toward healing our eyes.

Improving my own vision
My visual blur began when I was 17 and in a relationship that my parents didn't approve of.  The emotional turmoil caused mental strain, which caused visual strain, and it resulted in nearsightedness.  I really didn't want to deal with the big picture at that time.  I started squinting, which my parents noticed, and I was sent to an optometrist to get glasses.  I couldn't get used to my glasses, so I decided they weren't worth wearing, because the slight blur was easier to live with than the sense of separateness that the glasses caused.
After 16 years of squinting and making do with approx 20/50 blurry vision, I was fortunate to meet Tom Quackenbush of the Natural Vision Center at a living foods health expo in San Francisco, where I bought his book 'Relearning to See'.  A while later, during a 14 day water-only fast, I took the time to read Tom's book and I began using the better vision habits he described.  It only took two weeks for my visual acuity to get back to 20/20.  I was happily surprised.  Not only did acuity improve; colors became brighter also, and depth perception increased.  A few months after that, my acuity improved even further to a delightfully sharp 20/15.  So my own experience proves that clear vision can return quickly, under relaxed circumstances, and with conscious awareness of better vision habits.

Can your eyesight improve too?
Can you regain the clarity of vision that you once had?  Is there a chance for you to rid yourself of those cumbersome glasses and contact lenses, without resorting to the risks of laser surgery?  Many students of the Bates method, including myself, have done exactly that.  We relearned natural vision habits, regained our clear vision, and no longer need those eye 'crutches'.  One of my students went from -2.50 diopter of nearsightedness to passing the DMV eyesight test without glasses in less than 4 months; she also eliminated her light sensitivity during that time.  One man came to see me because he had failed the drivers' eyesight test for the first time and didn't want to get glasses.  After one hour of practicing good vision habits he passed the test easily, his acuity had improved from 20/50 to 20/30. (Most states in the US require 20/40 vision to pass the drivers test.)  Such fast progress may happen for you too, while others take longer.  If it took years for your eyes to reach your present state of blurry vision, then you may get frustrated if you expect your eyesight to clear up overnight.  The good news is that natural vision improvement works at any age and it can help solve or reduce many vision problems, such as: nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia / presbyopia), astigmatism, cross-eye (strabismus), amblyopia (lazy eye / suppression) and others.

Vision fluctuates
Have you ever noticed times where your vision is better or worse than usual?  Perhaps you find that sometimes you see clearer in the morning after a restful sleep, and that your eyesight gradually gets worse during the day as work requirements demand attention.  Or you see better on a relaxing day spent at the beach in the sun, while indoors under artificial light you need your glasses all the time.  Vision is clearly not static; it is subject to fluctuation.  So, if your visual acuity can fluctuate, it makes sense that there must also be a way to reverse the downward visual slide that so many people are on and start improving your vision on a more permanent basis.

No eye exercises
Natural Eyesight Improvement is not about eye exercises.  Seriously!  Why no exercises?  Because it is not due to a lack of eye exercises that your vision became blurry.  In the early 1900s Dr. Bates, an eye-surgeon from New York, discovered that the main cause of functional vision problems is tension.  So I do not recommend "eye push-ups" - the muscles around your eyes are likely tight already, and adding strain to tense muscles will not do much good.  Seeing is such a natural function, you just need to learn how to stop interfering with what your eyes and brain are designed to do effortlessly.

Relaxing your eyes - moving versus staring
Many people associate relaxing with not moving.  For the eyes, this is not appropriate.  The eyes like to move, they are designed to be on the move all the time; shifting 70 times per second is normal for healthy eyes.  Staring is not your eyes' favorite pass-time, it can actually be painful.  My definition of staring is keeping your head still, your eyes don't move either, you don't blink, and there is no change in focal distance (i.e. you keep your eyes locked on one fixed point).  Try that. - Okay, how did that feel?  My eyes don't like it at all any more; they hurt when I stare, and the object I'm staring at quickly becomes blurred.  Staring demands that the muscles around the eyes tense up.  Those muscles don't like that, they are designed to move.  Movement helps blood flow; blood flow brings nutrients and oxygen.  Holding tension for prolonged periods is unnatural for eye muscles.  They prefer to shift regularly between near and far vision, and they generally like to move around.

Blinking
Staring also reduces the rate of blinking drastically, which can cause the eyes to become dry and prone to infections.  Are you in the habit of staring?  If so, next time you catch yourself staring, shake off that stare, move your head and eyes, breathe, and return to regular relaxed blinking.  Your eyes will be grateful.  Healthy eyes blink every 2 or 3 seconds.  It is a quick, effortless blink, lasting only 1/40th of a second, which is barely noticeable and does not interfere with seeing.  Blinking lubricates and cleanses the eyes.  It also gives the eyes a mini-rest.  Catch up on blinking: do some fast blinking, or do a squeeze blink; allowing your face muscles to squeeze also, making funny faces, then return to relaxed mode.  Ask a partner/relative/friend to tell you when you are staring.  The more you increase your awareness of your staring habit, the more chance you have of eliminating it and the sooner you will return to a healthy blinking habit.

Breathing
Did you know that the eyes and the brain use more oxygen than any other part of your body?!  A deficiency of oxygen significantly reduces our ability to think and see clearly.  Therefore our breathing pattern affects our vision, and a return to clear vision requires a return to natural breathing habits.  Those with shallow breathing habits tend to hold the chest and/or belly area tight and thereby restrict movement of the diaphragm and ribcage, and thus the ability of the lungs to expand outward and fill fully with oxygen.  A lot of people have different ideas about how we should be breathing.  One thing is for sure; the more we can use our full lung capacity efficiently, the better our health and vision will be.  I highly recommend checking out the information put together by Michael Grant White, who is an expert on optimal breathing.  His website is www.breathing.com.

The above will help you set your first steps on the path to natural clear vision.  For more information on natural eyesight improvement please visit www.VisionsOfJoy.org, where you'll also find suggestions of books on eyesight improvement, links to many other similar websites, dates of eyesight improvement classes and a list of natural vision conferences and events worldwide.  Enjoy you path to clarity.

 
Dr Grace Halloran - Obituary

The Family, friends and associates wish to share with you the life and accomplishments of Dr. Grace Halloran. Following cardiac arrest Grace passed away on June 23rd and a celebration of her life was held on June 27th. It is our hope to continue The Visual Healing Program and setup a foundation in her memory so that her important work will continue.

Over a span of thirty years Grace sought ways to improve and maintain her vision and the vision of her family members who had Retinitis Pigmentosa, a genetic eye condition. Grace set out to help others around the world that were losing their sight and their hope. Through her many years of research, study and seeking answers Grace gained the knowledge to develop The Visual Healing Program. Grace proved to be an inspiration to so many people facing visual challenges, and made a difference to thousands. It was both rewarding and uplifting for Grace to hear about the improvement and the success that came to the Visual Healing patients. This was the beginning of an incredible journey for our 'Amazing Grace' that eventually reached all parts of the world. Her life's work revolved around education on eye health and giving hope to others wherever and whenever it was needed.

We know that Grace was here to advise and encourage any of you, whether she had just met you or worked with you for many years. We hope Grace's spirit will remain with you reminding you that "you are doing a great job, keep up with the Micro Stim, exercises, nutrition and color therapy!"
The family and staff at The Visual Healing offices will remain available to accept your calls and emails as your questions may arise. Please continue to check the website, www.visualhealing.com, for program and foundation information updates.

Warmest Regards,
The family and friends of Dr. Grace Halloran

 
Phytonutrients Are Essential for Healthy Eyes

What Are Phytonutrients? Phytonutrients are chemicals that plants use to perform metabolic functions. It more recent use has come to mean plant chemicals that humans eat for nourishment and therapeutic reasons.
Classifications under Phytonutrients include: phytosterols, saponins, phenoics, pectins and soluble fibers. Examples from each subgroup include flax, pumpkin and sesame seed (phyotsterols), fenugreek and ginseng (saponins), cherries and green tea (phenolics), apples and prunes (pectins), and oat beta glucan and rice bran (soluble fibers).

Carotenoids are a fat soluble groups of naturally occurring plant pigments under the classification of terpenes. They act as powerful antioxidants and immuno-potentiaters. Diets rich in carotenoids are linked with a decreased risk of heart disease, cancer, and degenerative eye diseases such as macular degeneration and cataracts. Two of the most important carotenoids for degenerative eye conditions are lutein and zeaxanthin. Leafy green vegetables contain mostly lutein and zeaxanthin. Carrots, oranges, sweet potatoes and squash contain mainly carotenoids. The yellow yolk of eggs is rich in lutein, and the astaxanthin group from red algae is what makes salmon pink.

Lutein and zeaxanthin are the only carotenoids identified in the macula. There they filter blue light from the retina and inhibit oxidative damage. Such damage leads to macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in those over 65.

There are approximately 600 known carotenoids, 50 of which are present in our diets. Mostly from fruits and vegetables. Chemically, carotenoids are classified into two main groups, carotenes and xanopylls (for example lutein, zeaxanthin and beta-cryptoxanthin. Others include alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and cryptoxanthin which are the main vitamin A precursors). Carotenoids are considered potent membrane antioxidants due to their reactivity with singlet oxygen.

What is singlet oxygen? Singlet oxygen participates in oxidative reactions which can impair or destroy important cellular components, such as membranes, nucleic acids (DNA), and enzymes. In addition, singlet oxygen reactions can generate free radicals which lead to further damage. Singlet oxygen often contribute to damage in the retina. In a healthy retina, singlet oxygen is neutralized naturally by phytonutrients as described above.

 

Study Offers New Evidence That Leafy Green Veggies Protect Eyes and Prevent Damage to the Lens of the Eye
Source: Chitchiumroonchokchai, C. Journal of Nutrition, December 2004; vol 134: pp 3225-3232

In a recent study published in the December issue of the Journal of Nutrition, researchers examined the effects of lutein and zeaxanthin on samples of human eye lens cells in the laboratory. They also compared the effects of these antioxidants on the cells to the effects of another antioxidant thought to improve eye health, vitamin E. Researchers treated the cells with various concentrations of the antioxidants and then exposed them to ultraviolet radiation.

"The dose of UVB radiation we used on the cells is about the same amount a person receives when they get a mild tan," says Bomser. Adding lutein and zeaxanthin to the cells reduced signs of ultraviolet damage by 50%-60%. Vitamin E reduced the same signs of damage by 25%-32%.
"Lutein and zeaxanthin accumulate in the retina and in the lens of the eye, but we're not sure how they reach the eye in the first place," says Bomser. "They travel through the bloodstream, but the lens doesn't have a blood supply."

This study provides new evidence that these antioxidants, which are found in plants such as spinach, kale, and collard greens, can indeed help prevent cataracts by protecting the eyes from the damaging effects of ultraviolet sunlight.
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Dr Marc Grossman's note: Along with lutein and zeaxanthin, we recommend nutrients that help build glutathione and vitamin C in the lens of the eyes which have been shown in studies to be significantly deficient in the eyes lens of those with cataracts. For more information, go to www.visionworksusa.com

 

Heavy Computer Use Linked to Glaucoma
Source: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, December 2004; vol 58: PP 1021-1027

Spending too much time looking at a computer screen may raise your risk of the vision-robbing eye disease glaucoma, particularly if you're nearsighted, according to a new Japanese study.
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that ultimately cause damage to the optic nerve. It can lead to blindness if not treated. Heavy computer users who were farsighted or nearsighted seemed to have a higher risk for visual field abnormalities, say the researchers.

Dr Marc Grossman's Note: The reason why computer users may have increased risk of glaucoma is very possibly due to the excess strain on the eyes due to prolonged focusing for long periods of time on the computer. This may overtime increase intracular pressure (IOP) resulting in glaucoma.
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One helpful way to preserve vision for computer users is to install Stressaway software on your computer, and learn natural vision habits to reduce eye strain.

 
Lead Exposure at Levels Commonly Seen Linked to Cataracts
from Journal of the American Medical Association, December 8, 2004, with comments of Dr Mercola

It's long been known that exposure to lead, even at low levels, might increase the risk of numerous age-related diseases. Now, to add one more to the list, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has found that long-term lead exposure increases the risk of cataracts, cloudy areas in the lens of the eye that cause vision problems and even blindness.

The study, which included close to 800 men in their late 60s and spanned nine years, was prompted by the fact that lead causes oxidative damage in body tissues, and cataracts are known to be related to such oxidative damage.

It was found that men with the most lead in their bones were 2.7 times more likely to have cataracts than those with the least lead. Bone lead levels, which are more stable over time, were used in order to determine the effects of long-term exposure, as lead levels in the blood can vary over the short term. No link was found between cataracts and lead levels in the blood, which suggests the incidence of cataracts was associated with exposure to lead over several years or more.

Researchers said being exposed to lead over time at levels commonly experienced by U.S. adults appears to be an important risk factor for cataracts. They suggested that reducing lead exposure could help to decrease the "global burden of cataract," but added that additional studies are needed to confirm the finding.

They also pointed out the importance of protecting yourself from lead exposure in your environment by taking the following measures:

Don't use lead-based paint
Make sure there's no lead in your drinking water
Don't smoke (there's lead in cigarette smoke)
Minimize work-related lead exposure
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Dr. Mercola's Comment:
In another article in this newsletter issue I shared some results from a comprehensive study about mercury and, sadly, how its toxicity is still very much up for debate on the side of conventional medicine. How lead, as mentioned in the above article, merits concern and mercury is downplayed makes no sense to me whatsoever. But I digress ...

The fact that health problems associated with environmental exposures to heavy metals like lead are being addressed is a positive step. As I wrote in a past article titled Five Common Toxic Metals to Avoid the major sources of lead in the environment are

Lead-based paint
Leaded gasoline
Lead-contaminated water
Manufacturing of lead batteries
Rubber products
Glass and other lead-containing products
Lead oxide fumes that result when industrial buildings are demolished
Living near an incinerator or toxic dump
If you're thinking that it sounds difficult to avoid lead exposure given this long list of sources, you are correct. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to completely avoid environmental contaminants like lead and other heavy metals. But there are some things that can help:

- Check your tap water for lead (low-level exposure to lead, such as through drinking water is associated with brain dysfunction in children, neurobehavioral changes in adults, hypertension and chronic kidney disease)
- Purchase a shower filter to reduce absorption of lead through the skin, nose and mouth
- Beware of peeling or flaking paint, especially in older homes that used lead-based paints
- Eat as much organic food as possible, and don't eat food from lead-soldered cans
- Avoid dishes with ceramic glazes that could contain lead
- Don't smoke -- cigarette smoke contains lead
- Avoid lead crystal dishware
- Children are more susceptible to lead absorption than adults, so it's especially important to keep them away from toxic areas like demolition sites or dumps
- If you are exposed to lead while on the job, consider changing occupations (more than 800,000 U.S. workers are exposed to lead through their work)
- Don't wrap food in the printed side of plastic bags -- the ink may contain lead that could leach into your food

 
Lifestyle Blamed for Rise in Myopia in East Asia
(Thanks to Dror Schneider for submitting this.)
LONDON (Reuters, Wednesday July 7, 2004) - A rise in myopia, or nearsightedness, in east Asia is due to lifestyle changes and not genetics, a science magazine said on Wednesday.
Genetic variations that make people more susceptible to myopia were thought to be the cause of the increase in the vision problem in countries such as Singapore and Japan where cases have risen sharply.

But Ian Morgan, of the Australian National University in Canberra, said there is no evidence to support the genetic theory and added that the rise in myopia is due to lifestyle changes, particularly hours spent indoors reading or in front of a computer or television.

"Children now spend much of their time focusing on close objects, such as books or computers," New Scientist magazine said. "To compensate, the eyeball is thought to grow longer. That way less effort is needed to focus up close, but the elongated eye can no longer focus on distant objects."

People with myopia have difficulty seeing objects at a distance, or reading signs but can do close-up tasks and read. The magazine said the rate of myopia in India is about 10 percent but that 70 percent of 18-year-old men of Indian origin in Singapore have myopia.

Morgan and Kathryn Rose, of the University of Sydney, also cited a study in Israel which found that 80 percent of teenage boys studying in religious schools that emphasized reading texts had myopia, compared to 30 percent in state schools. "As kids spend more time indoors, on computers or watching telly, we are going to become just as myopic," said Morgan.

 

Roberto Kaplan, OD, FCOVD, speaks at United Nations in Vienna, 24 June 2004

Dr. Roberto Kaplan was invited to talk about his integrated approach to vision therapy at the Vienna International Center at the U.N. in Vienna, Austria. Along with New York, Geneva and Nairobi, Vienna is one of the four Headquarters duty stations of the United Nations. More than 4,000 employees from over 100 countries work for the Vienna International Center (VIC) - based organizations.
Dr. Kaplan shared his ideas of the causes and development of nearsightedness and its implication on the consciousness of the citizens of the world. "We are fast approaching a world epidemic of blindness of reality because of myopic perceptions," Kaplan asserted, quoting the series of papers titled: Seeing Beyond the Obvious, published in the Journal of College of Optometrists in Vision Development."
It is time for conventional medicine to recognize the power of vision therapy as being a vital part of complimentary medicine," urged Dr. Kaplan. The talk focused on his two books: "The Power Behind Your Eyes" and "Conscious Seeing." Being a conscious person needs a healthy operating visual system. Vision therapy is an established scientific discipline within Optometry that has a vital role to play in helping persons recognize when they are seeing accurately or misperceiving. Undetected vision problems, especially a lack of coordination of the two eyes, can cause persons of all ages to see inaccurately how they are behaving.
Those who heard Dr. Kaplan applauded how the lecture illuminated a new dimension to the role of vision in being an instrument for enhancing consciousness. Kaplan sees his role in having vision therapy be more recognized as a powerful healing discipline in helping accomplish happier family relationships, less aggression and world peace.

 
(Thanks Dave, for sending this article and for your humorous approach! ~ EJvdW)
From: David Kiesling, of www.iblindness.org
Subject: Study: Not all kids with glasses need them

See the article below. Does it make you want to just pound your head against the wall? Or, at least, shake your head and marvel at the utter hopelessness of their approach?  I don't know what they think the reason is for all the misdiagnoses, but the answer is staring them in the face and they don't see it.

So what do you think? Will they actually start thinking that vision changes over short periods of time? Or will they conclude that it was the work of improperly wielded power of Refractollo, God of Measurement, and move onto finding a relationship between glaucoma and some obscure chemical?
But no, think loving thoughts... OMMMMMMMMMM.....

Dave
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Study: Not all kids with glasses need them
By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY, June 23, 2004

A study out today finds that up to 20% of children with normal eyes who undergo comprehensive vision exams may be prescribed glasses they don't need.

In an article published online in the Journal of the American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, researchers examined the records of more than 100,000 preschoolers who were screened through a statewide program in Tennessee.

More than 3,600 children were referred to specialists for follow-ups because of suspected disorders, such as lazy eye, according to the study. About one-quarter, or 890, were found to have no eye problems. Yet nearly one in five of these children were prescribed glasses.

Some health professionals were more likely to misdiagnose kids than others, said Sean Donahue, lead study author and an associate professor of ophthalmology, pediatrics and neurology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Optometrists prescribed glasses 35% of the time; general ophthalmologists, 12%; and pediatric
ophthalmologists, 2%, shows the study.

To Donahue, that suggests that optometrists and ophthalmologists who usually treat adults may not have as much expertise with children. Many youngsters are slightly farsighted, he said, although most will grow out of the condition without glasses. (emphasis added by EJvdW)

While many doctors recommend that preschoolers should be screened for vision problems, experts disagree about the best approach. Kentucky requires that youngsters undergo comprehensive eye exams before beginning school.

Donahue said states should think carefully about such expenses before following Kentucky's example. Given the high level of misdiagnoses, Donahue said, such laws could be expensive. Glasses cost about $150; exams add another $100.

Instead of forcing all preschoolers to get a formal exam, he said, kids could be screened by doctors, teachers, nurses or others, then referred to eye specialists for further examination.

Susan Taub, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Northwestern University, said she is concerned that many children suffer from undiagnosed eye disorders, which can cause permanent damage or hurt their ability to learn.

Doctors still do not know which tests or technology work best, Taub said. "This does need further study," she said. "We don't want kids to fall through the cracks."

 

(Story from BBC NEWS, Published: 2004/06/14 23:18:30 GMT)

Fruit 'helps prevent eye disease'

Eating fruit could protect against an age-related eye disease which can cause blindness, research suggests. Researchers from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston followed the progress of over 118,000 people for between 12 and 18 years.

Those who ate three or more servings of fruit a day were 36% less likely to develop age-related maculopathy than people who ate less than 1.5 per day. The study is published in the Archives of Ophthalmology.

Age-related maculopathy, or age-related macular degeneration, is the leading cause of blindness in people over 65. The condition is caused by the deterioration of the macula, a part of the light sensitive layer in the eye called the retina. The cells either break down, or the tissue is damaged by the growth of blood vessels under the retina. There is a treatment for the condition, but no cure.
Previous research has shown antioxidant vitamin and mineral supplementation protects against the condition, and that supplementation with high-doses of vitamins C and E, beta carotene and zinc delays its progress.

Diet survey
The researchers in this study looked at how the amount of fruit, vegetables and vitamins people ate related to their risk of developing the eye disease. They followed 77,562 women who were part of the Nurses' Health Study and
40,866 men who were taking part in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. All were at least 50 years old when the study began with no diagnosis of ARM. Women were followed for up to 18 years, and men were followed for up to 12 years.

Women completed questionnaires about their diets up to five times over the follow-up period (in 1980, 1984, 1986, 1990 and 1994), and men three times, in 1986, 1990, and 1994. They also reported their vitamin and supplement use once every two years. Over the follow-up period, 329 women and 135 men were diagnosed with early stage ARM, and 217 women and 99 men with neovascular ARM, a more severe type of the condition.

While three or more portions of fruit a day was found to significantly cut someone's risk of developing neovascular ARM - a severe form of the disease, eating more vegetables did not appear to hold any benefit. Bananas and oranges were strongly linked with protective benefits.

Researchers also found that levels of antioxidant vitamins or carotenoids - compounds responsible for the red, yellow and orange pigments found in some fruits and vegetables - were not directly related to ARM risk.

Food versus supplements
Writing in the journal, the researchers led by Dr Eunyoung Cho, said: "Fruit intake was inversely related to age-related maculopathy, particularly neovascular ARM, the form of this disease that frequently involves severe vision loss. "Since none of the antioxidants or carotenoids contributed substantially, other factors may also contribute to the reduced risk."

They suggest other constituents of fruits with potential health benefit include flavanoids, fibre, folate and potassium.

Catherine Collins, a dietician based at St George's Hospital in London, said the study findings made sense because certain substances found in fruit had specific benefits for eye health. She said the beneficial link with fruit may have been clearer in this study because people did not eat enough of lutein-rich vegetables such as spinach for them to have a noticeable effect. She added: "There are substances in foods which give you extra benefits
compared to vitamin and mineral supplements."

 

Shortsightedness may be tied to refined diet

05 April 2002 Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition.
(http://www.newscientist.com/news/print.jsp?id=ns99992120)

The food children eat might play as big a role as books and computer screens when it comes to causing shortsightedness

Diets high in refined starches such as breads and cereals increase insulin levels. This affects the development of the eyeball, making it abnormally long and causing shortsightedness, suggests a team led by Loren Cordain, an evolutionary biologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, and Jennie Brand Miller, a nutrition scientist at the University of Sydney.

The theory could help explain the dramatic increase in myopia in developed countries over the past 200 years. It now affects 30 per cent of people of European descent, for example.

"The rate of starch digestion is faster with modern processed breads and cereals," says Brand Miller. In response to this rapid digestion, the pancreas pumps out more insulin. High insulin is known to lead to a fall in levels of insulin-like binding protein-3, the team points out.

That could disturb the delicate choreography that normally coordinates eyeball lengthening and lens growth. And if the eyeball grows too long, the lens can no longer flatten itself enough to focus a sharp image on the retina, they suggest.

"Overnight epidemics"
"It's a very surprising idea," says James Mertz, a biochemist at the New England College of Optometry in Boston. But it's plausible, says Bill Stell of the University of Calgary in Canada. "It wouldn't surprise me at all. Those of us who work with local growth factors within the eye would have no problem with that - in fact we would expect it."

Metz's institution is now planning studies in animals. But there is already evidence to support the theory. While fewer than one per cent of the Inuit and Pacific islanders had myopia early in the last century, these rates have since skyrocketed to as high as 50 per cent. These "overnight epidemics" have usually been blamed on the increase in reading following the sudden advent of literacy and compulsory schooling in these societies.

But while reading may play a role, it does not explain why the incidence of myopia has remained low in societies that have adopted Western lifestyles but not Western diets, says Cordain.

"In the islands of Vanuatu they have eight hours of compulsory schooling a day," he says, "yet the rate of myopia in these children is only two per cent." The difference is that Vanuatuans eat fish, yam and coconut rather than white bread and cereals.

The theory is also consistent with observations that people are more likely to develop myopia if they are overweight or have adult-onset diabetes, both of which involve elevated insulin levels. The progression of myopia has also been shown to be slower in children whose protein consumption is increased.

Journal reference: Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica (vol 80, p 125)

Douglas Fox

© Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd

 
Heresy
Friar Roger Bacon, a Franciscan monk, was imprisoned for heresy in the late thirteenth century for writing about the merits of spectacles.
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Esther's comment:
That's from a time when common sense was actually common.... 
 
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