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Written exclusively
for eHealthy News You Can Use by Bill Sardi, Knowledge of Health, Inc.
(Not to be circulated for commercial purposes) Copyright 2001
Till recently, macular degeneration
was considered a discouraging eye disorder. Most patients are told there
is nothing that can be done to improve their vision. Then one lone researcher,
Dr. Stuart Richer, OD, PhD, at the North Chicago Veterans Medical Center,
painstakingly documented that macular degeneration can be reversed with
nutritional supplements and dietary changes.
The human retina is about the
size of a postage stamp and
the macula only about the size of a
pencil tip. Yet hundreds of millions of light-receptor cells
are employed. Cone cells produce color vision and are located in the macula.
Rod cells produce black and white for night vision. The cone cells are
located in the center of the retina and are used for reading and fine
central vision. The rods are in the periphery of the retina and are used
for night and side vision. Degeneration of the rods results in night blindness
(retinitis pigmentosa). Degeneration of the cones results in macular degeneration.
From back to front, the macula
is nourished by the choroid or blood layer of the retina. Poor circulation
would then affect vision. The choroid has extensions into the retina.
If the capillaries (connectors) become leaky, then the chorio-capillarus
will ooze some blood serum behind the retina, called subretinal swelling.
If the capillaries become even more leaky, then red blood cells will ooze
behind the retina and become a sub-retinal hemorrhage.
Vitamin
C and bioflavonoids (bilberry, cranberry, blueberry, others) helps to
keep the capillaries strong.
Furthermore, the back of the
retina is protected from sunlight damage by brown melanin pigment. As
melanin pigment dissipates with age, macular degeneration accelerates.
Plant pigments like bilberry mimic the light-absorption of melanin.
The blood and its nutrients
(oxygen, vitamins, lutein) must pass a membrane, called Bruch's membrane,
which may become calcified over time, blocking nutrient entry and the
exit of cellular debris. This can be remedied by taking magnesium, a calcium-antogonist
(natural calcium blocker).
Once nutrients have passed
Bruch's membrane, they go thru a single-cell layer of cells called the
retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The RPE are garbage-cleaning cells.
They digest used-up portions of vitamin A shed from the rod cells every
morning. The RPE accomplishes this by producing an antioxidant called
glutathione peroxidase, which is generated from vitamin E and selenium.
Without
vitamin E and selenium, the RPE will build up cellular garbage deposits.
If nutrients pass through the
choroid, Bruch's membrane, and the RPE, then they finally reach the retinal
light-receptor cells, the rod and cones. These cells are lined with fat
-- - omega-3 fat called DHA. Studies show that people who consume more
fish, which is rich in DHA-fish fat, are less likely to develop macular
degeneration. Vitamin B12 is the glue that keeps the DHA in place. Vitamin
E protects the DHA-fat from turning rancid.
In front of the photoreceptors
is the nerve layer of the retina. These nerve cells transmit visual signals
via the optic nerve to the brain. It is in this nerve layer thay lutein
and zeaxanthin reside. These are two yellow dietary pigments that work
like sunglass filters to protect the underlying macula from solar radiation.
Blue-eyed adults have far less lutein and zeaxanthin in their retinas.
A recent study shows that 60-year
olds who had adequate retinal levels of lutein and zeaxanthin retained
the ability to see faint light as well as 20-year old adults!! How's that
for anti-aging. Lutein and zeaxanthin are acquired from spinach
and kale, and from food supplements as extracts of marigold
flower petals. At least 6 milligrams
of lutein and zeaxanthin should be consumed daily. (Centrum multivitamin
only provide 1/4th of one milligram!.)
Therefore,
a nutritional regimen for macular degeneration should include:
1. Habitual wearing of UV-blue
blocking sunglasses when outdoors in daylight.
2. Consumption of spinach and
kale
3. A daily food supplement
regimen that include lutein (6-12 mg), vitamin E (200-400 IU), selenium
(organic, nor selenate or selenite) 200 mcg; vitamin B12, 300 mcg; magnesium
400 mg; vitamin C 500-2000 mg; bilberry 120-240 mg; DHA-rich fish oil
providing 1000 mg of DHA; sulfur-bearing nutrients (glutathione, lipoic
acid, N-acetyl cysteine or taurine).
4. Avoid high-dose calcium
supplements without balancing magnesium.
5. Avoid hydrogenated fats
that interfere with the omega-3 fats.
6. Avoid very low-fat diets,
that rob the retina of omega-3 fats.
7. Eat sulfur-rich foods, such
as garlic, eggs, asparagus, onions.
Dr. Mercola
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