How to Treat Glaucoma Problem Naturally

How Glaucoma Can Be Treated

There are several kinds of glaucoma, a disease that strikes the eyes. The most common form doesn't cause pain: instead, the angle of vision is gradually reduced. It usually is detected only during a routine eye examination but can cause loss of vision if allowed to progress without treatment. Another type of glaucoma causes attacks of symptoms that come and go. There can be vision loss, halos around lights, some pain in the eye and head, and even nausea and vomiting. Anyone with these symptoms should see a doctor right away.

To have a clearer idea of the mechanics of glaucoma, think of the fluid inside an eye as being like the water in a full bathtub. Imagine that water is slowly running into the tub, and there is a slow leak through the drain. If that tub were like a normal eye, the water coming into the tub at the top would equal the water leaking out at the bottom. The tub would not overflow.

A tub representing an eye with glaucoma would not have a balanced intake and outflow. The drain of the eye, called Schlemm's canal , would be partially blocked. Water could not pass away fast enough, and the tub would overflow.

Of course, the human eye can't overflow like a bathtub. So when more fluid comes in than goes out, pressure builds inside the eye and that can be very destructive to the delicate structures inside the eye. Often, vision is impaired, and in extreme cases, blindness results.

Dr. Ira A. Abrahamson, Jr., in his book, Know Your Eyes, says 'Glaucoma might be compared to a rock lying on a bed of green grass.' If you let the rock stay on the grass for a long time, it will kill the turf underneath, but if the rock is moved soon after it's put there, the grass will spring back to life. With glaucoma, finding out about the problem early is very important.

Prevention of glaucoma is by far the best approach. Until recently prevention was not thought possible because the cause of glaucoma was not known. Strictly speaking, we still don't know why the canal draining the eye becomes blocked, but thanks to observations and research in Africa, it appears clear that nutrition is an important factor. A doctor there has found that good nutrition can often cure and can prevent some cases of glaucoma. He's Stanley C. Evans, director of research of Eye Centres (Nigeria), Inc. That organization is an ophthalmic-nutritional clinic and the research results produced there could reverberate around the world.

Eye problems in Africa

Eye disease is an extremely serious problem in West Africa. The incidence of blindness is roughly eight times what it is in industrialized countries, but that is only the tip of the eye problem iceberg: Dr. Evans estimates that eye disorders are 10 to 15 times as common in Nigeria as they are in the United Kingdom. Even more shocking is his claim that 'over 50 percent of the population suffer from one form of eye disorder or another which lowers the visual acuity and visual efficiency. '

These eye problems have a staggering effect on health. In addition, there is a great loss of income and efficiency. Traffic accidents, too, have become an extremely serious problem; but many people continue to drive, even though they have very poor vision, for fear of losing their jobs.

The traditional approach to these eye problems in Africa is to fit people with glasses, but that doesn't solve the problem and it often makes it worse. Much of the poor vision there is caused by physical disease, and the disease process continues regardless of the use of lenses to aid sight. In fact, the glaucoma problem in Africa is so widespread that loss of sight can occur within days of a person being examined and told that his or her eyes are OK. Children as young as eight years old get glaucoma in Nigeria, while in the West it is considered a disease of older people.

There are also serious nutrition problems in Nigeria. While there is not much outright starvation, the typical Nigerian diet is high in starchy foods such as maize, millet, rice and sweet potatoes and low in fruit, green vegetables, and protein. In addition, widespread poverty makes it difficult for many families to buy enough to eat. The result is the widespread deficiency of vitamin A and protein, as well as shortages of other important vitamins and minerals, including iron and calcium.

Dr. Evans's approach to preventing and even curing eye disease is based on improving nutrition. He treated a group of 15 patients by giving them large daily doses of vitamins A, B-complex, C and E and additional amounts of protein. In most cases, he claims, the pressure inside the eye — a measure of glaucoma — was reduced to within normal limits within a week, and vision improved as well. In short, he says, he has found improved nutrition to be a much better cure for glaucoma than drugs, which he has also used during his 30- year career practicing ophthalmic nutrition.

These nutrition experiments are just part of Dr. Evans's work. He has made nutritional counseling part of his eye practice for years and has seen many examples of eye improvement when people's vitamin intake is changed. Today, he rarely uses drugs.

Other dietary deficiencies

Glaucoma has also been linked to thiamine deficiency. Measuring the thiamine blood levels in 38 patients with glaucoma, researchers found that they had a 'significantly lower' average level than 12 healthy people (Annals of Ophthalmology, July 1979).

Other evidence of a diet—vision relationship is accumulating. We were told of the work of Dr. Evans in Nigeria by Merrill J. Allen, professor of optometry at Indiana University. Dr. Allen told us that he has seen similar effects of nutrition on glaucoma in the United States. Hopefully, more eye doctors there and elsewhere will get interested in nutrition studies.

Glaucoma is a dangerous problem. It would be a serious mistake for anyone who even thinks he has glaucoma to avoid being tested and treated conventionally. Much older people should also have routine tests for pressure inside the eye, even if they don't have symptoms. Avoiding tests and treatment for glaucoma means running the risk of blindness.

There is no risk in trying to prevent glaucoma, though. We should all be doing that, simply by eating the best possible diet and making sure we get adequate vitamins.