Save Your Sight!

by Marc R. Rose

  Here are the names of some of the diuretics used to lower blood pressure:

  Thiazide Diuretics

  chlorothiazide (Diuril, Diurigen)

  hydrochlorothiazide (Esidrix, HydroDIURIL, Hydro-Paroretic, Ezide)

  bendroflumethiazide (Naturetin, Clothiazide, Aquatensen, Enduron)

  benthiazide (Exna)

  indapamide (Lozol)

  hydroflumethazide (Diucardin, Saluron)

  trichlormethiazide (Metahydrin, Naqua, Diurese)

  polythiazide (Renese)

  quinethiazone (Hydromox)

  metolazone (Zaroxolyn, Mykrox)

  chlorthalidone (Thalitine, Hydroton)

  Loop Diuretics

  furosemide (Lasix)

  bumetanide (Bumex)

  ethacrynic acid (Edecrin, Edecrin Sodium; prescribed for lowering of intraocular pressure in glaucoma)

  torsemide (Demadex)

  Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs

  These types of drugs bind cholesterol and remove it from the circulation to be excreted in the feces. Fat-soluble vitamins that are transported on cholesterol molecules are swept through unabsorbed. These drugs are known as statins. Some examples of statins include Lovastatin (Mevacor), Clofibrate (Atromid), and Gemfibrozil (Lopid).

  Drugs That Can Interfere with Nutrient Absorption

  These are drugs that can cause damage to the lining of the stomach and intestines, which may interfere with nutrient absorption, or that interfere with digestion in such a way as to block absorption of nutrients:

  antibiotics (Erythromycin, amphotericin B)

  nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

  H2 blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac)

  antacids (Turns, Mylanta)

  Photosensitizing Drugs

  There are dozens of prescription drugs that make the skin and eyes more sensitive to sunlight. If you must use these medications, take special care to protect your eyes and your skin from sun exposure. Oxidation reactions that occur when sunlight strikes the eye play a significant role in the development of cataracts and macular degeneration, and photosensitizing drugs compound these reactions. There are some researchers who believe that these drugs may cause retinitis pigmentosa in some people. Always check your drug information insert (if you aren’t given one, ask for it) to find out if it can cause photosensitization. If you have eye problems or are at risk for them, do everything you can to avoid these drugs:

  thiazide diuretics

  loop diuretics

  potassium-sparing diuretics

  carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (used to treat glaucoma)

  antiarrhythmic drugs used to regulate heartbeat in those at risk for heart rhythm problems (flecainide, digoxin, quinidine, procainamide, lidocaine, amiodarone, and verapamil, for example)

  blood-thinning drugs such as heparin (Warfarin)

  nifedipine (Procardia)

  antihistamines (cyproheptadine, diphenhydramine)

  NSAIDs (phenylbutazone, ketoprofen, naproxen)

  anti-infectives (most antibiotics and sulfa drugs)

  auspinone (anti-anxiety drug)

  venlafaxine, netazodone (antidepressants)

  fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline (antidepressants/anti-anxiety drugs)

  zolpidem tartrate (sedative)

  gastrointestinal anti-spasmodics prescribed for irritable bowel or ulcer such as hyoscyamine (Anaspaz, ED-SPAZ, Gastrosed, Levsin)

  sulfonylureas drugs for control of Type II diabetes (Diabinase, Orinase)

  coal tar for skin and scalp conditions (Doak Tar Oil, Balnetar, Zetar Emulsioin, Polytar Bath)

  oral contraceptives (estrogen/progestin combinations)

  minoxidil for baldness (Rogaine)

  antipsychotic drugs (phenothiazine, haloperidol)

  eretinate, isoretinoin for skin problems (Retin-A)

  Drugs That Increase the Risk of Hemorrhage in the Eyes

  The following drugs increase your risk of hemorrhage in the delicate vessels of the eye and elsewhere in the body:

  pentoxifylline, used to relieve painful blood clotting in the legs that can be a result of blood vessel disease (Trental)

  other oral anticoagulants (heparin, coumadin, anisindione)

  NSAIDs (ibuprofen, flurbiprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen)

  venlafaxine (antidepressant)

  cholinesterase inhibitors (prescribed for Alzheimer’s disease)

  amphotericin B (antibiotic)

  Drugs That Can Directly Damage the Retina

  Hydroxychloroquine sulfate (Plaquenil), a drug prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis, has caused irreversible retinal damage in some patients. While using this drug, you must have frequent eye exams and be alert to any visual symptoms such as light flashes or streaks, which may be signs of retinal damage.

  Other drugs that can damage the retina include:

  thioridazine, an anti-infective drug that can cause pigmentary retinopathy

  clonidine (Catapres), an alpha-adrenergic drug for lowering of blood pressure

  NSAIDs

  terbinafine, mefloquine (antibiotics)

  Drugs That Can Cause or Worsen Cataracts

  glucocorticoids (Prednisone, cortisone)

  NSAIDs

  fluoroquinone, terbinafine, mefloquine (antibiotic)

  eretinate, isoretinoin (for skin disorders)

  Drugs That Can Cause or Worsen Glaucoma or Damage the Optic Nerve

  glucocorticoids

  simvastatin

  fenfluramine

  NSAIDs

  mirtazapine (antidepressant)

  venlafaxine

  gastrointestinal antispasmodics for ulcer and irritable bowel syndrome such as (Hyoscyamine Anaspaz, ED-SPAZ, Donnamar, Gastrosed, Levsin, Levbid)

  hyoscyamine sulfate

  Drugs That Can Cause Blood Clotting, Impeding Blood Flow to the Eyes

  estrogen (Premarin for example)

  Androgen replacement with synthetic hormones (methyltestosterone, fluoxymetosterone)

  Other Visual Side Effects of Prescription Drugs

  Changes in visual sharpness, conjunctivitis, dry eye, itchy eyes, corneal abrasion, and double vision are a few of the problems you may encounter while using prescription medications. Even the drops used for eye problems such as glaucoma and dry eye can cause discomfort and impair vision temporarily. Because so many prescription drugs have ocular side effects that go away when the drug is discontinued, we won’t try to list them all here. It’s important for you to know that your eye problems could be improved significantly by weaning yourself off prescription medications. This is a good reason to read your drug information insert carefully, even if you have to get out a magnifying glass to do it.

  Please don’t stop taking any medication “cold turkey” without first checking with your doctor, and don’t stop taking a prescription drug without consulting a health care professional. Some powerful drugs have significant side effects that need to be controlled with additional medications. If you must take medication, support your body with good nutrition, exercise, and supplements.

  Overprescribed Drugs That Are Best Avoided for Long-Term Eye Health

  Corticosteroids such as prednisone are probably the worst culprits when it comes to eye damage caused by drugs. These medications are used to control inflammation in the body and to treat autoimmune diseases, arthritis, asthma, and skin disorders. You may be prescribed steroid eye drops after surgery. Steroid drugs can make you more vulnerable to fungal eye infection and can mask the infection’s symptoms. If you must use a corticosteroid drug, be sure to take high doses of antioxidants (vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene, among others) to help prevent steroid-induced cataracts.

  Sometimes a small dose of hydrocortisone, a natural cortisone, rather than higher doses of the synthetics such as prednisone can do the job without the side effects. It’s worth asking if you feel you must be taking steroids.

  NSAIDs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen are commonly used drugs in both over-the-count
er and prescription varieties. Photo-sensitivity, damage to the gastrointestinal tract, dry eyes, corneal deposits, liver impairment, and cataracts can all result from use of NSAIDs.

  Antibiotics have saved countless lives and all but eradicated some infectious diseases. Now, doctors hand out prescriptions for antibiotics even if they aren’t sure they are needed. Just like those household pests that become resistant to pesticides, antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria evolve and render these miracle drugs useless in some instances. Antibiotics disrupt the body’s balance; the more you use them the less likely they are to work effectively when you need them. Antibiotics often cause photosensitivity, gastrointestinal difficulties, and changes in liver function. They suppress your own immune function. Vitamin C in high doses and probiotics such as acidophilus or bifidus are musts during antibiotic therapy. In our experience, those who care for themselves well and stay on their supplement plans very rarely need antibiotics at all.

  Diuretics are another overprescribed class of drugs that can wreak havoc with the delicately balanced systems that regulate fluid volume in the body. Draining the body of fluid to lower blood pressure is a classic example of treating a symptom rather than the cause. Temporary use of diuretics to bring down very high blood pressure may be useful while you’re making necessary lifestyle changes, but nutrition, supplements, and exercise are vastly more effective and healthier in the long run because they get at the underlying cause of the problem.

  * * *

  IN SHORT…

  1. Avoid taking prescription or over-the-counter drugs whenever possible. Instead, use healthy lifestyle measures and good nutrition to prevent disease and treat ill health.

  2. Know the various effects and side effects that any drugs you take could have on your vision, and try to eliminate or reduce their use if you know they could impact your eyesight in a negative way.

  3. If you have to use prescription or over-the-counter drugs, know both their generic names and their brand names, know their effects and side effects, know how they interact with other drugs, and record which you use on a list to travel with you everywhere so that in an emergency the people who care for you will know what may be in your system and adjust their treatment accordingly.

  4. Many drugs interfere with the absorption and transport of nutrients. Know what they are and try to adjust your drug regimen to avoid those that are harmful in this manner. Take vitamins and supplement your diet with healthy foods if you must take such drugs so that your eyes, as well as the other parts of your body, are not cheated of good nutrition.

  5. Common drugs to lower blood pressure and cholesterol can spell trouble for your eyes. And many drugs cause photosensitization; your eyes will need protection from the sun, just as your skin does, during the use of such pharmaceuticals.

  6. Some drugs specifically can cause eye problems such as clotting, optic nerve damage, hemorrhage, dryness, et cetera. Know what they are and try to avoid them.

  7. Many common over-the-counter or prescription drugs such as NSAIDs and antibiotics can harm the eye. Live without them if possible.

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  12

  Exercise Your Way to Clear Vision

  Your body is designed for movement and activity. Walking, climbing, bending, stretching, lifting, and frolicking are as natural as your heartbeat or breathing. The way our lives are structured these days tends to make it difficult to indulge our desires to move. After years of being stuck at desks and in cars, that instinct can fade. Suddenly exercise seems like work. We need special clothes and shoes and a membership to a gym. Hundreds of books and magazines are devoted to how best to exercise. It’s easy to forget that after all, our bodies already know how to move. Unless you’re ill or injured, or have been sedentary for years, you can start your exercise program right now by getting up and going for a walk.

  You probably know somebody who’s a self-described fitness freak, for whom anything less than a ten-mile run over hilly terrain is not a workout. The guy who prides himself on having a biceps muscle as big around as your head, or the woman who spends three hours a day at the gym and has the figure of a young boy might make you wonder if you’re doing enough. We would like to encourage you to avoid those kinds of extremes (see step 2 in Chapter 1, “Everything in moderation”). Sooner or later we pay for going to extremes, and they are contrary to good sense and good health.

  You’ll be glad to know that anything that involves movement counts as exercise. George Burns lived to be one hundred and his exercise regimen consisted of doing his own housework. Gardening, window shopping, carrying groceries or laundry, and playing with children all count as exercise.

  As a general rule, all that’s needed to gain significant health benefits is light to moderate physical activity for thirty minutes a day. Those thirty minutes don’t have to be consecutive; they can be broken up into fifteen-, ten-, or even five-minute segments throughout the day.

  Remember that something is always better than nothing. If you’re inactive now, you can get a lot out of simply becoming more active. Walking from the far end of the parking lot, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or doing household chores to music is a great beginning to a more active lifestyle. If you do adopt a more structured program of exercise, you should still try to incorporate more activity into your daily routine.

  If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, or lung disease, you should check with a health care professional before you get started. There may be special guidelines you need to follow, or your health care professional might recommend you have a treadmill test where you can be carefully monitored as you exercise. If you’re taking any prescription drugs, you should check with your doctor or pharmacist to see whether they will affect how your body responds to exercise.

  A diet lacking in nutrition doesn’t give you much “get up and go,” but it can give you far more calories than you need, making you one of millions of people fighting the battle of the bulge. Weight loss is no less than an obsession in this country, and the desire to drop extra pounds is the primary reason people get started with exercise.

  Getting some exercise isn’t only about how you look, though; obesity is linked to higher risk of heart disease, adult-onset diabetes, high blood pressure, and orthopedic problems, and it’s certainly linked to eye disease.

  Exercise, especially the aerobic or cardiovascular variety, is one of the most important things you can do to improve your body’s ability to circulate blood filled with nutrients and oxygen through the vessels. Every bout of exercise pushes the circulatory system to do its job more efficiently. Over time this brings the body to a higher level of function overall.

  Combined with the dietary changes we’ve described in this book, daily exercise will certainly help you to lose weight. We want you to know, though, that being thin at any cost is a lot unhealthier than carrying a few extra pounds. Recent research has shown very clearly that if you exercise, you will enjoy improved health, whether or not you lose any weight at all. It’s not smart or sensible to attempt to maintain the body you had when you were in your twenties when you’re in your forties, fifties, or sixties. It won’t work, and you’ll put yourself through a lot of stress worrying about it.

  However, the old adage of “use it or lose it” is never more true than with exercise, and is especially true as we age. Joints, muscles, and circulatory systems that don’t move get painful, weak, leaky, and creaky! Movement, on the other hand, keeps the body strong, resilient, and better able to resist disease and deterioration.

  It’s never too late to begin exercising. We don’t care how long it’s been since you’ve taken a walk or how old you are, you will benefit the instant you get up and get moving. If you’ve been sedentary, begin slowly and be gentle with yourself. If you experience pain, that’s feedback from your body that you’re overdoing it. Listen carefully to these signals and back off. The next time you exercise, you’ll be able to do more.

  Arthritis is not
a reason to avoid exercise. In fact, both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis respond very well to gentle exercise. Study after study has shown that people who get some exercise experience less arthritis pain and take less pain medication than their sedentary counterparts. And by the way, exercise is also a great way to prevent these painful diseases.

  What Type of Exercise Is Best for You?

  Your best criterion for what type of exercise is best for you is whether you enjoy it. When you enjoy exercise, you’ll make it a regular part of your life. Even the most sophisticated exercise routine won’t work if you don’t do it. If you enjoy a yoga or qi gong class but hate aerobic exercise, then just be grateful that you enjoy the yoga and do that. If you love a good heart-pounding run on the treadmill but find yoga boring, then go for the treadmill. If you can’t get yourself to move unless you’re playing with or against someone else, go for it. If a walk around the block is all you can manage, fine!

  If you have the time and energy, you can fine-tune your exercise regimen, but we certainly don’t want you to be concerned if you’re not doing every type of exercise mentioned here. Any effort you make will have a positive effect on your health. Be guided by a sense of enjoyment rather than a sense of duty.

  People start exercise programs over and over and never can seem to stick with them. It’s usually because they think it’s all or nothing, and they start into a program so gung-ho that they get burned out in a matter of weeks. When exercise is a natural part of your life, you will be one step closer to the vitality and clarity you’re striving for.

  The greatest benefits of exercise are seen in those who have been completely sedentary “couch potatoes” and who start a program of light to moderate activity. It doesn’t have to be painful, you don’t have to sweat buckets, you don’t have to suffer from muscle soreness or stitches in your sides. Just get moving!

  Here’s a quick guide to different types of exercise.

  Aerobic exercise isn’t just what you get in an aerobics class. It’s any kind of physical activity that makes your heart beat faster, also known as raising your heart rate. As you move the large muscle groups in your arms, legs, and trunk, more blood flows faster through your vessels to “feed” the working muscles. Walking, jogging, cycling, cross-country skiing, swimming, and dancing are all forms of aerobic exercise.