I think you’d agree that blood is important.
Stuff of life.
However blood flow plays an equally important role. When this function becomes compromised, then healing and regeneration of tissues in the body heal more slowly or not at all. The forces of degeneration that lead to vision loss if you have macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa or Stargardt disease affect all of the structures in the eye, not just the specialized nerve cells in the retina. Improved blood flow can make a big difference in pushing back against this degeneration.
In this post, we'll:
- Discuss the problem
- Describe what we do in the Better Eye Health Program to help safely restore normal blood flow, and
- Briefly discuss how other diseases that affect blood flow make the problem worse.
1. The Problem
The text book description about diseases like macular degeneration refers to degeneration in the nerve cells of the retina. Although true, the dreaded complication in advanced forms of macular degeneration is leaking and bleeding into the retina. When you read about advances in the treatment of macular degeneration over the past years, those generally refer to advances in the treatment of this complication, not the underlying disease. The new vessels (neovascularity) that are prone to leak and bleed form in response to a loss of blood flow that comes with the overall degeneration of the structure in the eye.
Loss of blood flow and abnormalities in the retina are also a major problem in retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt disease. (Fortunately, bleeding is less of a problem in RP and Stargardt.) The abnormal vessels may not be the first abnormality in these diseases, but poor blood flow in the later stages is a large contributor to the significant vision loss and even the destructive complications that occur.
2. The Solution
Restoring blood flow lost through the slow process of degeneration cannot be done with pharmacology or surgery. There are techniques in the tools of Integrative Medicine that do work, and have for some time.
The Better Eye Health Program contains several components that assist with this blood flow issue directly. These include the Eye Health Exercises, Acu-Eye points, Color therapy, microcurrent stimulation therapies, some of the advanced eye supplements and the Stress Management program. All work to safely restore normal circulation. Let’s look briefly at these:
a) The Eye Health Exercises restore mobility to the head, neck and shoulders, which has been shown to improve blood circulation to the brain and eye in SPECT blood flow studies.
b) The Acu-Eye points utilize self-stimulation of acupuncture points which is known to improve circulation in the areas treated.
c) Color Therapy has been shown to improve both lymphatic and blood flow in the eye and brain.
d) Microcurrent Stimulation (MCS) therapy has been studied extensively in an area of treatment called Cranial Electrical Stimulation (CES) and has been shown to safely improve blood flow. MCS also has other beneficial effects.
e) Supplements recommended to people with more advanced disease such as vinpocetine and ginkgo biloba are known to increase blood flow in the brain and eye.
f) Stress management techniques using mindful breathing and relaxation have been shown to improve blood flow in the brain and eye using brain SPECT studies.
g) Finally, the overall reduction in inflammation that comes as a result of the dietary modification and detoxification techniques that are now a part of the Better Eye Health Program contributes to restoring normal circulation everywhere, including the brain and eye.
3. Managing Other Medical Conditions
Problems like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt disease are usually not part of any syndrome. This means that you may have a significant problem with your eyes even though the rest of you feels healthy.
However, if you have other common medical problems that affect blood flow, then these can make the problems with your vision harder to control and correct. Diabetes, hypertension and atherosclerotic vascular disease tend to be the most common of these. For the best health of your eyes, you need better control of these problems than from taking pharmacological drugs alone. Drugs often mask the issue without addressing the real change needed for long term health. You need some changes, sometimes radical changes in your diet and lifestyle if you want the best chance at a lifetime of healthy vision.
What is needed is different for each person, but you can be sure we'll be talking about this more with you after you start the Program.
Macular Degeneration, Retinitis Pigmentosa and all of the macular dystrophies share the same abnormal gene, and all respond well to the support given by the Better Eye Health Program. Learn more about the program here: www.bettereyehealth.com.
To Your Health!
