Save Your Sight!

by Marc R. Rose

  Consider this: A bypass surgery costs sixty thousand dollars and is covered by insurance. Angioplasty costs about fifteen thousand dollars and is also covered. These treatments are what you’d have to choose from if you arrived at the hospital with severe chest pains from angina. Chelation costs five thousand to seven thousand dollars (or less), not including “boosters,” and is not covered by most insurance companies, due to its status as an “experimental treatment.”

  Bypass surgeries bring over four billion dollars into hospital coffers each year. If it were safe and effective, this wouldn’t concern us, but in all but the sickest heart patients the risks of surgery outweigh the benefits. Some medical authorities claim that bypass is the best way to relieve uncontrolled angina pains. But it’s a temporary fix: In one large study of bypass patients, 24 percent had angina pains within one year, and a whopping 40 percent had them by the sixth year. Complications from the surgery are very common.

  When there are alternatives such as the lifestyle changes we have suggested in this book, which time and time again have shown impressive results for severely ill heart-disease patients without drugs or surgery, and chelation therapy, the huge number of bypasses performed in U.S. hospitals is no less than an outrage. Most people who submit to bypass surgery are not informed of their other options, and are simply told that if they don’t have the open-heart surgery, they will die.

  Those who have angioplasties don’t fare too well, either. Pushing the walls of an artery open with a tiny balloon works to open a clog, but the vessel is likely to close back up quickly. There’s no solid evidence that angioplasty has any value as anything but a “Band-Aid” approach to the problem.

  Chelation cleans the blood vessels throughout the body. If you have a clog in one vessel, you’ve got clogs in others, and you need to get to the root of the problem. It’s interesting to note that several people who were helped by chelation to overcome disease so severe that doctors insisted they have more expensive, invasive, and risky procedures took their insurers to court, and the insurance companies were ordered to pay.

  What Is Chelation Therapy?

  You go to the doctor’s office with something to read and a nutritious snack. A nurse seats you in a comfortable chair and places an intravenous drip into your arm. For about three hours, a solution of EDTA, distilled water, and vitamins and minerals slowly will be infused into your bloodstream. Halfway through, you’ll need to have your snack to stave off low blood sugar, and you may need to urinate a couple of times during the treatment. You’ll repeat this once or twice a week for a total of twenty to thirty treatments, and thereafter you’ll probably have “booster” treatments once or twice a month.

  How Does Chelation Work?

  One way in which chelation is known to work is by binding excess calcium in your blood, and removing it from where it may be incorporated into the plaques that block arteries. You may think of calcium as an important component of teeth and bones, and this is the role of 99 percent of the body’s necessary calcium. The other 1 percent needed is involved in heartbeat, nerve transmission, muscle contraction, and balance of blood acidity. Such essential calcium is spared during EDTA, bound as it is to proteins that make it impossible for EDTA to grab that calcium. Unbound, excess calcium also exists in your body. It tends to be stored in the joints and along the walls of the blood vessels. The worse your artery health, the more excess calcium you have lining your arteries. Atherosclerotic lesions are cemented together with this bad (“metastatic”) calcium. EDTA binds with this calcium and removes it, flushing it out of the body and allowing the plaques to dissolve.

  A bonus of chelation therapy is that the parathyroid gland is stimulated to release hormones that also break down metastatic calcium deposits. As all of this goes on, recalcification of bone is also stimulated.

  Chelation therapy also may work to reduce the production of free radicals. Heavy metals like lead, iron, and mercury are potent catalysts of free-radical reactions. They are pro-oxidants that encourage the formation of free radicals, which then can do damage to any of the body’s structures. There is also some evidence that heavy metals accumulating in brain tissues over a lifetime contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. There are reports that chelation therapy has restored health to people who were thought to be lost to this heartbreaking disease.

  EDTA chelation makes your blood less likely to clot where it shouldn’t. Unwanted blood clots cause strokes, heart attacks, and death of eye tissues. Those with the predisposing factors for heart attack (high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and insulin resistance, to name a few) also tend to have “stickier” blood.

  Finally, chelation therapy can help prevent arterial spasm. This may have something to do with removal of excess calcium, or with the clearing-away of irritating deposits along the blood vessel walls. Spasm of arteries can block blood flow as effectively as a blood clot can.

  Chelation and Eye Health

  How can chelation therapy help those with eye disease? Because of its reduction of free-radical formation, which has been implicated as a cause of macular degeneration, it can reduce the harmful effects of sunlight on the macula. It can keep clear of clogs the vital blood vessels that feed the eyes and help to diminish those clogs that have already built up. The most compelling support for the use of chelation in treating eye problems is in the stories of those who have experienced significant visual improvement with it. Often improved vision is a “side effect” experienced by those who undergo chelation treatment for heart disease. Remember, anything that improves circulation will improve eye health.

  These days chelation is a low-risk procedure in the hands of a competent physician. Kidney toxicity has been an unfortunate result of infusions given too rapidly, but this hasn’t happened for decades. All of those heavy metals being carried out of the body must pass through the kidneys, and only small doses can be handled at once. Any physician with ACAM’s stamp of approval will administer the treatments carefully, and you will be monitored by a nurse at all times.

  Regular chelation treatments must be coupled with the nutritional guidelines in this book, regular exercise, and extra supplementation of vitamins (especially B6), magnesium, and other minerals that can be depleted by chelation.

  If you decide to try chelation, you can write or call ACAM (check Appendix II at the back of the book) to find out which doctors in your area are using this treatment.

  Fasting

  Rats who are regularly deprived of food live longer than those fed every day. Food restriction slows cancer growth. It is well established that rats benefit greatly from fasting, which means going without food. We think it would be safe to say that the majority of alternative health care professionals also find it beneficial to have their patients fast occasionally. We’re not talking here about extreme deprivation, we’re talking about giving your body a break.

  As we’ve already said, there’s no way to completely avoid exposure to toxins. There are simply too many of them. But you can take steps to prevent them from accumulating beyond your capacity to buffer or eliminate them. Unexplainable nausea, headache, tiredness, joint pains, or muscle aches are good indicators that your buffering and elimination systems are being overwhelmed.

  During a fast the body has a chance to metabolize stored wastes and toxins so that they can be flushed out. The digestive system gets to take a breather, as stomach acid, pepsin, and pancreatic enzyme secretion falls. Freedom from the gut damage due to food allergens allows the gut linings to heal. Avoid heavy exercise when you’re fasting and try taking saunas (guidelines appear at the end of this chapter) to aid the elimination of toxins through the skin. Relaxing, sunbathing, massage, and gentle stretching exercises can be beneficial during a fast.

  Classic fasting with nothing but water for four days isn’t advisable for anyone suffering from ill health unless you are under the supervision of a health care professional experienced in this area. A modified version of the water fast is a program called Ultra Clear P
lus (HealthComm), put together by Jeff Bland, Ph.D. The use of a nutrient-dense powder mixed with pure water helps you to maintain your energy levels throughout the fast while still enjoying the benefits of fasting. The kit, which you can buy at most health food stores, will give you complete instructions.

  You can also go on a juice fast, just drinking organic, unfiltered apple or pear juice three to four times a day. Even a vegetable juice fast is beneficial, but use bland vegetables such as carrots and beets (not too many, they’re very sweet) and celery. We recommend that in a juice fast you mix one tablespoon of psyllium powder with your juice (at least an eight-ounce glass), and follow that with a glass of water, when you normally would have a meal. This gives the intestines something to work on and doesn’t stop their movement. Some people advocate shutting down the intestines, but then you have to get them started again, and that can be problematic.

  Although a longer fast will cleanse the body more quickly and thoroughly, we recommend the less extreme alternatives. Our pursuit of moderation even extends to fasting! A three-to-five-day fast will give you many benefits, especially if you begin and end it with a few days of eating only brown rice, steamed vegetables, and salads. Here are some variations on the theme:

  Cleansing diet: Eat only organic fruits and vegetables for all of a day’s meals. Do this once or twice a week. Drink plenty of water.

  One-day fluid fast: Go twenty-four to thirty-six hours with only water, vegetable broth (make some yourself), herb tea, and fruit and vegetable juices. You can use a meal replacement powder such as Ultra Clear if you get lightheaded from low blood sugar, although fruit juices should keep your blood sugar up.

  If these fasts feel comfortable to you, you can try them for two or three days at a time. Taper your food intake gradually over the two to three days preceding the fast. Reintroduce your regular foods slowly once it’s over, chewing everything thoroughly and eating small portions.

  During a fast you can expect to have some unpleasant symptoms such as rashes, mucus discharge from the sinuses, cough, fatigue, moodiness, body odor, vision or hearing disturbances, or aches and pains. This happens as chemical toxins are released from stored fat into the bloodstream, and your body is reexposed to them. Break your fast immediately if you experience extreme weakness or dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, or shortness of breath.

  Your liver has to work hard to handle the increased flow of toxins during fasting, so you should be sure to take your vitamins and herbs diligently before you fast. You don’t need to take them while you’re fasting, but go right back to them after your fast is broken.

  Internal Cleansing with Nutritional Therapies

  Your liver and your intestines are your most essential organs when it comes to internal cleansing. The liver is designed to filter out and neutralize toxic chemicals as they travel through the bloodstream. It’s at risk, however, when the toxin load becomes too great for its many detoxification systems to handle effectively.

  Nutritional Prescription for Cleansing

  Here are some nutritional guidelines you can follow before and after a fast to ensure that your liver is in tip-top shape. You can add the vitamins to our multivitamin recommendations. You can also use these supplements when you know you’ve been overexposed to toxins.

  Vitamin C: up to 3 g (3,000 mg) in divided doses

  Selenium: 100-200 mcg

  Beta-carotene: up to 25,000 IU in divided doses

  Milk thistle: 120 mg, 3 times in capsules; or 2 droppersful of the tincture in water, 3 times

  Green tea (for its bioflavonoids called catechins): 2 cups

  Glutathione-builders like N-acetyl cysteine, garlic, onions, eggs, and asparagus

  Cruciferous family foods such as cabbage, broccoli, and brussels sprouts to stimulate liver function

  Dandelion root: 4 g dried root; or 4-8 ml of fluid extract

  Taraxicum officionale, 3 times to increase the flow of bile

  Turmeric: as a spice, or 300 mg curcumin 3 times

  Don’t take benzodiapines (Prozac, Valium, Centrax, Librium, Ativan) or NSAIDs (aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen). And don’t drink more than one alcoholic beverage per day.

  Saunas

  Twenty to thirty minutes in the sauna at 103-105 degrees Fahrenheit brings toxins out through the skin. If at any time you begin to feel nauseous, lightheaded, faint, or dizzy, cut your sauna short. As soon as you leave the sauna, you should take a shower. Use a washcloth or natural sponge and soap (glycerine or Dr. Bronner’s soaps are good choices) and scrub the entire body. You don’t want to give those toxins a chance to be reabsorbed.

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  IN SHORT…

  1. We are surrounded by toxins—chemicals in household cleaners, polyurethane foam in pillows, fillers in medicines, sugar substitutes that contain excitotoxins and can negatively affect your brain, and so on. Know your environment and reduce toxins if possible for the health of your whole body, including your eyes.

  2. Xenobiotics, which mimic hormones, interfere with the natural action of our own hormones. Avoid the petrochemicals (usually plastics and pesticides) that contain xenobiotics.

  3. Free-radical production is boosted to an unhealthy level by chemical toxins, especially heavy metals such as lead and mercury. Try to rid your environment of them—from your pipes, the paint on your walls, your dental fillings, and so on.

  4. Consider trying EDTA chelation therapy, which has many benefits for the eyes: reduced blood clotting, for one. (See the “Resources” section, Appendix I, for more information.)

  5. Try a fast or modified fast to cleanse your body. Sauna sessions also can rid your body of toxins, which can only help your vision.

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  14

  Basic Eye Care

  So far you’ve learned about ways to improve your eye health and your vision by taking measures to improve your whole-body health. In this chapter we’re going to give you some practical tips on eye care. You’ll find out about which sunglasses are best for your particular eye problems and how to use eye drops so they help your eyes instead of harming them. We’ll also give you some solutions for dry eyes and irritation caused by eye allergies.

  Sunglasses

  Been to the beach lately? Sunbathers are still flocking there to expose as much skin to the sun’s rays as they possibly can. Many of them use sunscreen now because of the public’s growing awareness that sun exposure increases skin cancer risk and accelerates skin aging. Their eyes are usually shaded by sunglasses—another wise move, you might think. Sunglasses are as necessary a part of sun protection as that SPF 30 you rub onto your skin. Right?

  Right…but the sunglasses those beachgoers are wearing are probably doing vastly more harm than good. If sunglasses don’t block out 100 percent of ultraviolet radiation (UV-A and UV-B rays), they aren’t doing much to protect your eyes. Worse yet, the dark lenses that shade away some of the sun’s brightness reduce the reflexive squinting that is your body’s natural response to excessive light. You certainly will feel more comfortable with those sunglasses on, but you aren’t protected from the ultraviolet rays that contribute to macular degeneration and cataracts.

  The manufacturers of sunglasses aren’t closely regulated, so millions of pairs of useless sunglasses are sold in stores, and up to 40 percent of these are mislabeled. As the ozone layer thins, scientists expect that skin cancers will become more and more common. What you don’t hear about too often is the dramatic increase in cataract occurrence that also is expected with ozone depletion. Very little ultraviolet radiation strikes the retina because it has to pass through the yellowish sun-shield provided by the lens. Still, it takes only a minuscule amount to kill off retinal light-receptor cells. In older people who have cloudy cataracts removed, threat of macular degeneration rises. Those who have cataracts removed need to be especially careful to shield their eyes from ultraviolet rays.

  Sun damage to the eyes tends to occur gradually over years of exposure, with slow breakdown of proteins in the l
enses of the eyes, clouding of vision, and development of cataracts. During the first thirty years of life, the eyes are more transparent, and the irreplaceable retinal cells are at greater risk. Even young people need to be concerned with protecting their eyes from sun damage.

  Guidelines for Choosing Sunglasses

  Choosing the right sun protection for your eyes is an important part of maintaining your vision. Here are some guidelines for you to follow, but the single most important factor is the first one on the list: Get sunglasses that filter out the UV rays.

  • Lenses must block out 100 percent of UV-A and UV-B rays. Since so many sunglasses are mislabeled, you need to find out which ones really do the job with an ultraviolet light sensor. Optiwear sells its Ultraviolet Sensometer for only five dollars (Optiwear, 3100 James Street, Syracuse, NY 13206). With this gadget, you can take a pair of sunglasses outdoors and test them. Any UV rays that go through the lenses will cause the card to change color. This is a very small investment for your eye health, and you can carry it in your wallet.

  • Don’t be fooled into thinking that a darker lens indicates better protection. The darkness of sunglass lenses isn’t related to their level of protection from ultraviolet radiation. Lighter-tinted lenses will give you better visibility.

  • Sun goggles that cover a large area and include side shields are your best bet for total protection. These are great for those who wear prescription glasses, as they can fit right over them comfortably. You’ll also get protection from airborne eye irritants and allergens, and moisture won’t evaporate from the eyes as quickly.

  • Opt for lightweight plastic, shatterproof (polycarbonate) sunglasses if you are active in sports. A glare-reducing polarizing film can be used on glass lenses, but glass can be very heavy for daily wear and is not made into large sun goggles. Polarization helps you see better in very bright light but doesn’t protect you from UV radiation.