Cataracts are one of the most common eye conditions among seniors. A cataract results in clouding the vision, and eventually causes blindness if not treated. The conventional approach to cataracts is to wait and see if it gets worse. When a cataract is advanced, an eye surgeon usually offers cataract surgery. Cataract surgery uses artificial lenses that correct any clouding due to a cataract. It can correct certain refraction errors at the same time. However, not everyone is a good fit for this treatment. Which nutrients help promote healthy lenses and overall eye health? What does recent research into cataract pharmacotherapy show? And, which combinations of nutrients are the most effective for lens support?
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Parkinson’s disease is a multi-neurological disease. Currently, most Parkinson’s treatments focus on increasing dopamine production and reducing motor symptoms and tremors through medication. However, this disease has many causative or contributing factors that cause changes in healthy brain function. Many of these factors are also relevant for dementia, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Wilson’s diseases as well. Which factors impact brain functioning and the development of brain disease? Are there natural approaches to preventing and slowing the progress of such devastating diseases? This article offers a brief overview, based on the new book, Natural Parkinson’s Support: Your Guide to Preventing and Managing Parkinson’s.
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Brain health is especially important in seniors. Seniors are susceptible to dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, memory problems, and cognitive decline. Which foods boost brain power the most? At Natural Eye Care, we have picked eleven common foods that have brain-saving properties. Scientists have been studying the nutrients in foods for decades. They have isolated specific nutrients that cross the blood-brain barrier. These types of nutrients get direct access to the brain and even the retina. The retina is made from neural tissue. Researchers find that many of the nutrients helpful for the brain also stave off eye diseases such as macular degeneration and glaucoma.
Try adding some of these foods to your regular diet. Seniors need fewer calories than younger folks. Therefore, replace “junk food” like cookies, candy, and chips with these brain-boosters.
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Lack of Vitamin D has been associated with eye diseases like uveitis, macular degeneration, and dry eye. Vitamin D deficiency is also linked to cancer, immune disorders, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, bone pain, depression, asthma, multiple sclerosis, and even dementia. Shockingly, more than 40% of the US population is Vitamin D deficient. The body manufactures Vitamin D, so why is deficiency wide spread? Indoor living, aging, and many other factors are behind this virtual pandemic. How can you measure your vitamin D levels? How can you get enough? Isn’t fortified milk enough? Should you take a supplement? Which one?
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Th
e Paleo Diet or “Caveman Diet” is trendy, but what effect could it have on the eyes? The idea is to eat like hunter-gatherers in the Stone Age. These early humans had no agriculture–and no processed foods. Nearly devoid of grains and dairy products, this diet focuses on meat, fruit, nuts, seeds, and vegetables.
The discordance hypothesis holds that the invention of agriculture resulted in a diet that did not match our DNA. Did we evolve to eat large amounts of grains and dairy products? Farming is only 10,000 years old, but our Stone Age ancestors lived 2.5 million years before this.
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Several nutrients and vitamins such as bilberry and taurine help protect the optic nerve from damage. Glaucoma causes optic nerve damage. Optic neuritis and optic nerve atrophy are serious conditions that harm the optic nerve. Since the optic nerve sends electrical signals from the eye to the brain, any interruption damages vision. How does the optic nerve work? Which diseases damage the optic nerve? What does the research show about how nutrients, foods, and vitamins protect the optic nerve? Taurine, gingko biloba, a fruit called bilberry, Vitamin C, and Vitamin B12 among others have demonstrated their usefulness.
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Eye vitamins are crucial to vision health. In fact, the eye is the most vitamin-hungry organ in the body proportional to its size. It is the second most physiologically active part of our body only second to our brain. We believe the eyes require approximately 25% of the nutrients taken into the body to maintain full health. Any less may eventually result in eye diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts.
Many seniors suffer from these eye diseases. A lifetime of eye stressors, including excessive sunlight and poor diet, catches up with seniors. They also have less efficient digestion, poorer circulation and may have risk factors such as diabetes, long-term smoking, and lack of exercise. Dr. Grossman, a New York-based
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Is it possible to prevent cataracts, or even reverse cataracts? Can you put off cataracts surgery? Cataracts are one of the most common eye diseases in seniors. More and more people have a special “glint” in their eye when the light hits the lens just right. What is the value of preventing cataracts and other eye diseases?
The eye disease glaucoma can be devastating to eyesight, so scientists are looking at risk factors such as folate intake. There are few good therapies once the disease sets in. Vitamins could potentially prevent glaucoma. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at folate intake and the risk of developing open-angle glaucoma, also called “pseudoexfoliation” or “exfoliation syndrome.”
Glaucoma mostly strikes the elderly. In open-angle glaucoma, a part of the eye does not drain correctly. Fluid builds up in the eye, damaging the optic nerve. Fluid pressure builds up in the eye. Glaucoma can
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The links between antioxidants and vision health are strong. Antioxidants are the antidote to oxidization. Normal metabolism creates free radicals. These are atoms that lack an electron. Free radicals roam about the body, scavenging electrons and stealing electrons from healthy cells. This results in permanent damage to these afflicted cells which ultimately can result in disease. Significant research has shown that antioxidants protect against this cellular damage and are essential for maintaining health. The eye is especially vulnerable to free radical damage. Therefore, providing the body with sufficient antioxidants
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Natural Eye Care, Inc.
3 Paradies Lane
New Paltz, New York 12561
Phone: 845.475.4158
NaturalEyeCare™ started in 1999 to help the public and professionals learn about complementary care in eye disease treatment.
The information and recommendations we offer are based on over 30 years of peer review research and personal clinical experience which guides us in providing a valuable resource to our readers, customers and patients regarding maintaining healthy vision naturally.
We believe that vision health is intimately connected to overall mental, physical and spiritual health. Therefore we encourage people to look at their overall lifestyle and diet as part of keeping healthy vision and reducing the risk of eye disease onset. This includes diet, regular exercise, and management of daily stress. If one has health issues such as high blood pressure, a thyroid imbalance, any autoimmune disease and/or are on medication(s), these possible contributions to eye disease should considered when working with your health care professional.
Please do not hesitate to call us at 845.475.4158 with any questions and concerns.
