by Lawrence Wilson, MD

GLAUCOMA

The eyes are among the most delicate structures in the body, and very important, of course. Glaucoma is a very common eye disease, especially among those over age 55. Symptoms result from an increase in the pressure of the fluid that is inside the eyeball. The excessive pressure affects the retina and optic nerve. This can lead to gradual or even sudden irreversible blindness. For this reason, the condition is best prevented or handled quickly and aggressively to avoid damage to the eyes.

Types of glaucoma.

1) Over 90% of glaucoma develops slowly and is called open-angle glaucoma. For this reason, it is often detected late, after some loss of vision has occurred. The most common symptom is a gradual loss of peripheral vision.

2) A much more rare acute type of glaucoma is called closed-angle glaucoma. This is a medical emergency that requires diuretic drugs and usually surgery to stop it quickly. Symptoms include severe headache, eye pain, and often sudden loss of vision. Early symptoms may include some loss of vision, especially in the morning, seeing halos around lights, blurry vision and an inability to adjust to darkness. The pupils may be fixed and slightly dilated, and do not respond to light very well.

Always seek medical help immediately if these symptoms occur.

Testing for glaucoma. Eye doctors and optometrists often do a simple test to assess the pressure inside the eyeball while doing a routine eye examination. They blow a puff of air at the eyeball with a device that measures the pressure.

Eye examinations are one of the few medical exams that I highly recommend for everyone. Another is testing for high blood pressure. Many other medical tests are less important or less accurate, in my view. Tests such as PSA, mammograms and others are thus less critical, assuming one takes excellent care of the body.

CAUSES OF GLAUCOMA

Doctors are not sure what causes glaucoma in most cases. For some reason, the ducts or other structures that regulate the pressure in the eye become damaged.

Nutritional causes for glaucoma may include:

· Inflammation, often due to the presence of toxic levels of manganese, iron, aluminum or other metals in and around the eyes.

· Oxidant damage. Toxic metals, nutrient deficiencies, liver damage and other causes may contribute.

· Copper toxicity. In particular, copper imbalance, which is very common, can damage connective tissue, such as that in the ducts of the eyes. This may occur because too much biounavailable copper oxidizes vitamin C and may damage the disulfide bonds that give all connective tissue such as collagen its flexibility and strength.

· Liver toxicity. Liver damage is associated with most eye diseases. In Chinese medicine, the liver meridian passes through the eyes. As a result, disturbance of this meridian affects the eyes, often in subtle but important ways. Cataracts, glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa and other diseases of the eyes are often related to liver toxicity, which is extremely common and often hard to detect with blood or other tests. On hair tests, indicators may include a low hair phosphorus level, a low or very high sodium/potassium ratio, copper imbalance or a very slow oxidation rate.

CORRECTION OF GLAUCOMA

Nutritional balancing. A number of our clients with glaucoma report that their condition resolved by itself on a nutritional balancing program. This may take several months to several years of following a complete nutritional balancing program.

Possible reasons for the correction are an improvement in liver activity, a reduction in a high copper level, and the elimination from the body of many oxidant compounds that often involve toxic metals such as aluminum, and biounavailable forms of manganese and iron. Other reasons for the improvement in the symptoms might include renourishing the body, in general and supplying more antioxidants and other protective nutrients found in natural foods and in supplements.

Symptomatic remedies for glaucoma. Some books recommend vitamin C, glutathione, vitamins A, C, D and E, omega-3 fatty acids, gingko biloba, bilberry, zinc, bioflavinoids and other natural remedies. I don’t find these nearly as good as an integrated and coordinated nutritional balancing program.

Other natural therapies such as homeopathy might be tried as well.

Caution: Anyone prone to glaucoma should strictly avoid ephedra or ma-huang, belladonna and licorice. These could provoke an attack of closed-angle glaucoma in susceptible individuals. In nutritional balancing science, we suggest avoiding these herbs at all times, anyway.

Medical remedies. Doctors prescribe eye drops to control the pressure in the eyeball. These are usually effective, but in some cases cause severe headaches or other side effects. They are definitely somewhat toxic, do not address the deeper causes, and must be taken every day for the rest of your life.

Eye surgery is occasionally recommended. Tiny incisions are made with a laser to enable the fluid in the eyeball to flow correctly. I am told this surgery is unreliable, but sometimes helpful.

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