The Ophthalmologist reviewed his findings and shook his head. It didn't seem possible, yet the facts were there on the report. There was no alternative way the situation could be interpreted. Again he shook his head, picked up the sheaf of papers neatly packaged in a manilla folder, and left his office. He walked the length of his facility hallway, entered the consultation room and sat down at a desk. He looked up at his patient and cleared his throat.
"Mr. Beamish," he said, "I have some bad news for you. All tests and indications lead me to conclude that you are losing your vision. Within the next few years you will be blind."
Sounds strange but, oddly enough, this scenario is not uncommon. Vision problems afflict a large number of the general populace. In America, Cataracts are responsible for an estimated 5000 cases of blindness each year. 13 million people currently exhibit some degree of vision loss due to an eye condition called Macular Degeneration. Better than 2 million people suffer from Glaucoma, and half of the 16 million diagnosed diabetics might develop Diabetic Retinopathy within 10 years of diagnosis. The numbers bear out the fact that complications from diabetes is the primary cause of adult blindness in the U.S.
Free radicals are the primary cause of ocular damage both in cataracts and macular degeneration. Though some free radicals are endogenously formed, many are created from ultraviolet radiation, air pollution, and some theorize, from tobacco smoke. With respect to cataracts, free radical damage to the proteins in the lens of the eye causes them to become cloudy. This clouding of the lens is very gradual, and painless.
Age related macular degeneration occurs in two forms, wet and dry. The more common dry form is primarily recognized by tiny yellow deposits that develop beneath the macula (itself called yellow spot). in the wet form, blood vessels grow beneath the spot. Here too, free radicals are believed to induce damage to the pigmented cell layer of the retina, thus causing loss of central vision.
Through research, it has become evident that there are certain nutrients essential for proper control of these free radicals. In addition to vitamins A, E, and C, and minerals Zinc and Selenium, there are several other products that are less known yet have valuable properties that can be used to combat the free radicals. These are glutathione, lutein, and the herb bilberry.
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