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Post by Quatermax on Apr 1, 2005 3:36:37 GMT -5
Gizmo, the light treatment has made my floaters more bearable. As they are still there, I don`t know how and why this has come about. But perhaps a more concrete and reassuring effect concerns the flashes and visual disturbances which seem to be partly due to the surgery I had for retinal detachment in one eye, but as they also occur in the other unoperated eye, are obviously partly due also to vitreous collapse, which, as expected, must leave the retina open to de-stabilization by jolts to the body, such as when riding a bike over bumps in the road. I noticed that if I did the light treatment after noticing these flashes, then the flashes quickly stopped. At the moment, I have little problem other than the floaters are still bothersome, although less so than before, so I am not doing the light treatment regularly. Nevertheless, I do it sporadically when I feel I need it, and I also expose the eyes to sunlight for a few minutes in the late afternoon (if the sun is out), always keeping the eyelids closed. I have the impression that this is preventing more flashes, and may be preventing the formation of retinal holes and detachments. Without a major problem, no-one can say whether the light treatment is really necesssary, but I can say that since I have been doing it, I have had no more purely retinal problems, nor glaucoma or cataract. It remains to be seen whether anyone is prepared to take it further to explore its use as a therapeutic tool, and of course to explore its use to minimize floaters.
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Post by RamOn on Apr 15, 2005 16:18:10 GMT -5
Hi I found some info I think could be interesting for us... It is a website about sun gazing, I paste here the part of the artice talking about "Orange light", you can access the entire article here: www.sunlight.as.ro/RamOn ORANGE SUNLIGHT PROTECTS THE RETINA In the article "Eye protective techniques for bright light,'' published in Ophthalmology 90, 937-944 (1983), David H. Sliney wrote: "When the sun is low in the sky it is yellow or orange indicating that the hazardous blue light has been scattered out of the direct path of sunlight, and the sun may be fixated for many minutes without risk." From 50% (at noon) to 93% (at dawn and dusk) of the near ultraviolet radiation (397 nm) is scattered into the sky (Jerlov, N.G.,1976. Marine optics. New York: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co.) Sunlight has the highest ratio of near-infrared light at sunrise and sunset, when the ultraviolet and blue radiation are scattered while red and infrared are passing through the atmosphere. That's why the sun is red at these moments, which are the best for improving the vision. Exposure to near-infrared light helps protect the retina from damage, according to a new study. Near-infrared light which is able to increase the amount of energy in cells, say researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin. They studied the new methods in rats whose retinas had been damaged by methanol, a toxic chemical. It is known that methanol harms the mitochondria, the energy-producing structures within the cells. But exposure to an LED light could prevent this damage. The researchers believe that this method, which they call photobiomodulation, may turn out to be a non-invasive way of treating retinal injury and preventing blindness. In the late 1990s, lab studies on cells showed that near-infrared wavelengths can boost the activity of mitochondria, the crucial powerhouses in cells. In a 2002 study backed by the National Institutes of Health and the Persistence in Combat program from the Pentagon's research arm, Harry Whelan blinded rats by giving them high doses of methanol, or wood alcohol. This is converted by the body into formic acid, a toxic chemical that inhibits the activity of mitochondria. Within hours, the rats' energy-hungry retinal cells and optic nerves began to die, and the animals went completely blind within one to two days. But if the rats were treated with LED light with a wavelength of 670 nanometres for 105 seconds at 5, 25 and 50 hours after being dosed with methanol, they recovered 95 per cent of their sight. Remarkably, the retinas of these rats looked indistinguishable from those of normal rats. "There was some tissue regeneration, and neurons, axons and dendrites may also be reconnecting," says Whelan. Whelan and his team have reportedly shown that skin and muscle cells grown in cultures and exposed to the LED infrared light grow 150 to 200 percent faster than ground control cultures not stimulated by the light. The specially designed near-infrared LED generates infrared light that penetrates to a depth of 23 centimeters, or more that nine inches without damaging the skin. Though three times brighter that the sun, the LED is very safe and easy to use, as well as portable. DNA synthesis in muscle cells quintupled after a single application of LEDs flashing at the 680-, 730- and 880-nanometer wavelengths, according to Whelan. He identified more than 20 genes that typically are associated with retinal damage, for example, and "the LED alters all of them." "Some increased, some decreased," she added. "But they were all brought back to normal." Whelan thinks that the LED pulses give the retinal cells extra energy, allowing them to heal more quickly. According to one scientific research report (ISBN: 0-8194-1500-6) blood exposed to infrared light had less blood cell aggregation (clumping together) which would free up more surface area of red blood cells to transfer nutrients and oxygen to tissues. Britton Chance of the University of Pennsylvania has shown that about 50 per cent of the near-infrared light is absorbed by mitochondrial proteins called chromophores. Whelan and his colleagues think the light boosts the activity of a chromophore called cytochrome c oxidase, a key component of the energy-generating machinery. Whelan's theory is that the photons of the infrared light give the cytochrome electrons it ordinarily would get from sugar. Light becomes a substitute for food, basically. Another natural way to expose the retina to infrared light, recommended for persons sensitive to sunlight, who usually wear sunglasses, is to watch into the direction of the sun, preferably at noon, with the eyelids closed. The eyelids act as filters, letting only the infrared light to reach the retina. It is necessary a long time exposure, from 20 to 30 minutes, because the intensity infrared light which reach the retina in this way is hundreds of times lower than that generated by the LEDs. The big advantages are that this therapy is available to anybody and is totally free. Sunlight influences the metabolism of fatty acids in the retina. "Gazing directly into the sun actually improves sight and aids in overcoming disease" (Dr. Herbert Shelton). After discontinuing wearing his eyeglasses, Dr. John Ott wrote that he exposed his eyes to sunlight without lenses and his vision was much improved. He recommended similar therapy to his friends and they gained similar improvement in their vision. Writing in Psychology (July, 1929), Dr. R. A. Richardson, optician, says: "On a recent trip to Africa, I took advantage of the opportunity to find out whether cataract and blindness, often found there, were caused by the sun's intense light and heat, as I had been told. To my surprise, I discovered that the persons blinded by cataract were not those who worked in the open sunshine, but in the small shops and bazaars of Tunis. Questioning them, I traced their trouble to over-indulgence in proteins, sugars and starches, nicotine and caffeine." An elderly man in the audience arose, and identified himself as a veteran of the Korean war. He had, he said, worn glasses for much of his life, and had been POW held by the Koreans for about 9 months near the end of the Koran war. At some point, an apparently sadistic but curious medical doctor at the prison camp had selected 10 men – this man was one of the ten – and forced them to stare at the sun for 10 hours per day, including high noon. If a prisoner resisted or looked away, or closed their eyes, guards would beat them, and the prisoner risked death. While the former POW reported that it was decidedly unpleasant sitting and staring at the sun for 10 hours a day, almost non-stop, and that he and the other prisoners all developed massive headaches and neckaches, none apparently experienced any long-term negative effect upon their vision or their eyes. Further, each man who had previously worn glasses (the POW telling the tale was among them) shortly discovered that their vision had drastically improved and that they no longer needed to wear glasses. The ex-POW relating the tale told the class that he had never since needed glasses, and that he was now in his seventies and his eyesight was perfect. Folks often report really nasty headaches and sinus pains which may last for days afterward, especially when first starting. The headaches and migraines are caused by the increased levels of serotonin, induced by sun gazing. Serotonin is a potent vasoconstrictor and the headaches and migraines are the consequence of that.
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Gizmo
New Member
Posts: 12
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Post by Gizmo on May 19, 2005 7:12:11 GMT -5
Ramon, is it possible to upload luftig's book (or a partial pdf) and tell us where we can find it ? I would be grateful of it.
Thanks
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Post by RamOn on Jun 22, 2005 14:46:19 GMT -5
Hello,
I apologize, I must look at this forum more often, here is the Luftig abstract.
Regards.
********** EDITOR’S DISCLAIMER: It is not my intention to dissuade any person from seeking prompt, medical treatment by qualified professionals for any medical complaint, and I do not recommend any person to attempt to substitute the methods described herein for said medical treatment. END OF DISCLAIMER *********** However, it is my firm intention to bring this subject matter to the attention of interested parties so that they can, and do, demand that said professionals institute a FULL, OPEN, UNBIASED SCIENTIFIC ENQUIRY without delay as to the potential benefits of the methods described herein, namely, the avoidance of the performance of operations which said methods may, subject to substantiation of efficacity, render unnecessary on some or all occasions. It is to be understood that “efficacity”, as judged by a medical patient, is the sole criterion by which said methods are to be judged, notwithstanding any incompatibilities with current theories. If the efficacity of said methods is found to be substantiated in any degree whatsoever, it is suggested that they be integrated into current treatment protocols for the common good.
EXTRACTS FROM “THE NATURAL TREATMENT OF EYE DISEASES” by William Luftig. M.D. (Graduate of the University of Berlin)), published by “Health for All Publishing Company”, London (1947) ********************
CONTENTS Page Incurable Cases of Cataract 216 So-called incurable Cases of Glaucoma 217 Detachment of the Retina incurable by orthodox Methods 219 Incurable Cases of Squint 219 PART XV Why the Treatment is not only effective but also perfectly harmless 221 Complete Harmlessness of the Treatment 221 Guarantee of Safety 221 1 Experience of long medical practice 221 2 Anatomical Reasons 223 3 Exclusion of dangerous Light-sources 224 4 Application of visible Rays 224 5 Slight Intensity of Light 224 6 Biological fundamental Law 225 7 Individualisation of Dosage 225 8 Opinion of patients 226 PART XVI Advantages of Non-operative Eye Treatment 227 1 Absolute Absence of Danger 227 2 Avoidance of Excitement before an Operation 227 3 Avoidance of the Eye Operation 228 4 Recovery of the entire visual Apparatus 228 5 Restoration of the Eyesight 230 6 Protection of the Healthy Eye 230 7 Prevention of Blindness 230 8 Quick Improvement and lasting Success 23 1 Epilogue 233
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Post by RamOn on Jun 22, 2005 14:48:49 GMT -5
WHY I AM AGAINST EYE OPERATIONS As regards my following discussions, I should like to stress at the very beginning that I do not intend to attack anyone who holds different opinions on the subject. I just bring plain facts and leave it to the reader to judge for himself. TWELVE REASONS AGAINST EYE OPERATIONS There are a number of reasons why I do not advocate eye operations: My objections are: 1. The operation does not eliminate the cause of the eye disease. 2. It does not bring the eye disease to a standstill. 3. It does not exclude the possibility of a relapse. 4. It does not forestall the development of the same trouble in the other eye. 5. It does not remove the damages caused by the disease. 6. It does not restore normal conditions in the affected eye. 7. It does not prevent further deterioration or loss of the eyesight. 8. It weakens the eye. 9. It cripples the eye. 10. Eye operations are dangerous measures. 11. The eyesight after the operation is unsatisfactory. 12. Eye operations can be avoided.
1. THE OPERATION DOES NOT ELIMINATE THE CAUSE OF THE EYE DISEASE My main argument against the performance of an eye operation is the fact that it does not remove the cause of the eye trouble. In the vast majority of all cases, eye diseases are due to constitutional disorders and are nothing but a local manifestation of a general disease. Long medical experience on the Continent and now in this country has taught me the interrelation between the health condition of the body and the state of health in the eyes. This relationship can be summarized as follows: Firstly, no eye disease can develop in a perfectly healthy body. Secondly, eye diseases are largely due to internal constitutional disorder. Thirdly, the health of the eyes depends on the health of the body. Fourthly, the body depends for its health upon the quality of the blood. Fifthly, an abnormal condition of the blood leads to functional and organic disturbances in the eye. Sixthly, the presence of an eye disease indicates that something is basically wrong with the eye as well as with the entire organism, no matter whether the patient is aware of any general trouble or not. These connections teach us three things: Firstly, the eyes cannot be healthy unless the body is healthy. Secondly, the eyes are not independent of the rest of the organism. Their health is determined by the condition of the body constitution in general and the blood and lymph in particular. Thirdly, operative treatment is based on an erroneous presupposition. How can a local eye operation accomplish a cure by removing a local symptom in the eye, when the real cause of the eye disease lies elsewhere in the body? To overcome the eye disease, the first and fore most task is to eliminate the underlying causative factors which are at work. Practical experience has definitely shown that surgical operations are not sufficient to combat the disease process in the eyeball. The ideal way is to treat the ill person and not merely the disease product in the eye. Local surgical treatment can never be the appropriate remedy for a complaint which affects the whole organism.
2. THE EYE OPERATION DOES NOT BRING THE DISEASE TO A STANDSTILL I come now to the second point as to why I am against eye operations. The reason is that local surgical measures do not put a stop to the eye disease. How can the surgeon bring it to a standstill when the constitutional cause of the disease is left out of account and continues to be at work? That is why the operation offers no safeguard against the existence or aggravation of the eye disease.
3. THE OPERATION DOES NOT EXCLUDE THE POSSIBILITY OF A RELAPSE For the same reason, even a successful operation does not avoid a fresh outbreak of the disease, and one need not be astonished if repeated relapses occur. Recurring attacks are bound to take place as long as the disease-producing factors are not removed.
4. THE OPERATION DOES NOT FORESTALL THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SAME TROUBLE IN THE OTHER EYE The operation is not only no bulwark against deterioration; it is also no safeguard which protects the healthy eye from being involved in the disease process. Without the elimination of all internal causes, the affection of the second eye is very often merely a question of time.
5. THE OPERATION DOES NOT REMOVE THE DAMAGES CAUSED BY THE DISEASE The operation has no influence on the tissue damages which are the disastrous consequences of many eye troubles. They consist in injuries of vital eye tissues which are transformed by the disease into damaged and inferior structures.
This process is due to stagnation, pressure and subsequent tissue degeneration in the eyeball. Clinical observation shows that no surgical intervention can in this respect bring about any change for the better,
6. THE OPERATION DOES NOT RESTORE NORMAL CONDITIONS IN THE AFFECTED EYE If one examines the eye after the operation, one finds that important tissue elements are adversely affected by a process of degeneration. It is these morbid tissue alterations which remain unchanged by operative measures. The very fact that no normal conditions are restored in the affected eye is just the reason why the eyesight is bad and disappointing after the operation. This is easily understandable, because the faculty of seeing cannot be better than the organic structure of those tissues which produce the sensation of sight. There can be no doubt that the visual disturbances correspond to the pathological changes which prevail in the eyeball.
7. THE OPERATION DOES NOT PREVENT FURTHER DETERIORATION OR LOSS OF THE EYESIGHT When the retina, optic nerve and other sections of the inner and the outer eye are and remain in a bad state, they cannot do their special duties properly and a loss of function is the inevitable consequence.. According to their abnormal organic condition, the functional efficiency of the eye is bound to be lowered to a minimum in the course of time or ultimately to be abolished entirely. This is the explanation for the fact that, from the patient’s point of view, the operation is unsuccessful, as the improvement of sight is not possible, unless the treatment regenerates the damaged eye tissues and restores good working conditions in the eyeball. On the other hand, it is not hard to understand the patient’s dissatisfaction with the result of the operation, because his eyesight has not improved for the reasons given above. Over thirty years of medical experience have taught me that the vision goes on failing after the operation for cataract, glaucoma, detachment of the retina and squint, and may even end in total blindness, because the operation does not stop the atrophy and destruction of vital eye tissues and thus neither prevents nor arrests the progressive loss of vision. I shall go into this important matter more fully in a later part of the book when I deal with the unsatisfactory eyesight after operations.
8. THE OPERATION WEAKENS THE EYE We must not forget that the affected eye is in itself in a weakened condition. It is already debilitated by the disease process and becomes even weaker by the effects of the drastic operation, which undermines its strength still more. To this weakness of the eye before and after the operation comes the increasing impairment of sight which is due to insufficient use of the operated eye. The patient is inclined to spare it and to dispense with its use as much as possible. But lack of use renders the visual organ weaker and less capable of functioning properly.
9. THE OPERAT1ON CRIPPLES THE EYE To these considerations I must add the circumstance that, by cutting and burning, operations cripple, the eye, because they involve loss of substance, It is well to keep in mind that after the operation the eye is never again what it was before. It is a weak organ which offers little resistance and has lost its normal functional power and structural integrity.
10. EYE OPERATIONS ARE DANGEROUS MEASURES After we have seen that the eyesight achieved by operations is very poor indeed and that, for the reasons given, the operative treatment must be unsuccessful, it may be of interest now to examine the question whether any risks are connected with the performance of surgical measures. Patients think or are told that operations are harmless measures and do not involve any danger. This opinion is perfectly wrong and not in accordance with facts. Medical reports published by various hospitals and authors and scientific statistics derived from the practical experiences of eye surgeons in all countries provide sufficient evidence that untoward accidents and serious complications have happened and do happen rather frequently during, at the close of, and after the operation. This fact corresponds to the observations of the vast majority of leading ophthalmic surgeons and the personnel of eye hospitals. When we look up those surgical text-books which describe the technique of eye operations, we find that the different kinds of operative procedures are fraught with dangers which cannot be guarded against by any protective measure. The patient has, therefore, to be prepared for the occurrence of contingencies which may be followed by disastrous consequences to vision.
lOa. TO WHAT FACTORS ARE COMPLICATIONS DUE? These complications may be induced (1) by the patient, (2) by the hospital staff, (3) by the assistant, (4) by the narcosis and the painfulness of the operation, (5) by the entrance of bacteria into the wound.
1. As far as the patient is concerned, the provoking causes are of a trifling nature. I mention, for instance, vomiting, coughing, sneezing, pressing in passing stool or urine, restlessness, jerky movements of the body, unexpected changes of the position of the head or eyeball, sudden violent strain, hard chewing, muscular contraction, bodily exertion, squeezing the eyelids or striking the hand against the eye. 2. As regards the hospital staff, I refer to faulty sterilization and insufficient cleansing of instruments used during the operation. 3. The assistant may cause complications by unskilful manipulations and lack of caution — for example, if he exerts too much pressure on the eye during the operation. 4. As to the narcosis and local anesthesia, the dangerous factors are vomiting and pressing during the narcosis and the painfulness of the operation which provokes involuntary movements of eye or head in local anaesthesia, especially if the patient is nervous and hyper sensitive. Unfortunately, when grasped by surgical pincers, the tissues of the iris and ciliary body remain sensitive, as a local anaesthesia is incomplete and has not the power to exclude pain. Thus unforeseen damages to the operated eye may arise. 5. The presence of bacteria may have serious con sequences, because the smallest operation wound is a wide- open, gateway through which septic infection may possibly enter and involve the whole visual organ in a process of disease and destruction. Although the ill-effects of germs and microbes can be counteracted by sterilizing the hands and instruments which come into contact with the wound, a state of inflammation cannot be fully prevented and does set in spite of aseptic technique and most scrupulous care on the surgeon’s part. 6. Although complications may be occasioned by the clumsiness of the operator, I should like to emphasize that the technical skill of the surgeon has nothing to do with the frequent occurrence of the numerous complications which I am now going to enumerate. It is an undeniable clinical fact that there exists no protection against the perils associated with operative measures.
lOb. WHAT ARE THE LOCAL AND GENERAL COMPLICATIONS? Haemorrhages. No surgeon likes, the occurrence of bleedings during the operation, as the presence of blood greatly interferes with the performance of any surgical measure. He cannot overlook the field of operation and runs constantly the risk of injuring the eyeball in some part or other. The worst consequence is cataract, which arises when the lens is damaged and becomes opaque. Haemorrhage is no small matter. It weakens the patient by a more or less severe loss of blood and causes a great shock and discomfort to him. It may lead to a considerable visual disturbance if it is situated in the retina in the region of the yellow spot (see diagram on p. 8). Eye surgery is entirely powerless to guard the patient against the occurrence of severe bleedings, because most patients are at an age where one finds a hardening of the arteries, a stagnation in the veins and a raised blood pressure. The consequence is that a sudden increase of pressure, which arises during the operation, bursts the brittle vessel-wall. No one who has seen it will ever forget this tragic picture, which alarms equally the patient and the surgeon. The blood runs incessantly out of the eye through the gaping operation wound. Hereby jets of blood are thrown over the patient’s face as though from a fountain. The blood-stream cannot be arrested and has such a force that it washes out the contents of the inner eye, whereby it carries with it the iris, the lens and the vitreous body. Even the choroid and retina may be pressed out through the still open or reopened operation wound. After the loss of the inner parts of the eye, there is nothing to support and maintain its shape, and the empty globe collapses. The outcome of this so-called expulsive haemorrhage is that eye and eyesight are lost. The accident ends in blindness and necessitates the excision of the eyeball. Cases have happened where the excessive bleeding actually caused death. Although this operative complication happens comparatively seldom, it is still to be reckoned with, and the worst is that there is no safeguard against its occurrence.
Inflammations and Infections of the Eye. When the eyeball is opened, the operative wound may become the starting-point of a series of most undesirable complications which lead to infinite harm and loss of vision. Peril threatens from the presence of harmful and poisonous bacteria as well as from insufficiently sterilized instruments or solutions which are used during the operation. That the operated eye is in danger a very long time after the healing of the wound can be concluded from the fact that the so-called late infection may set in months or even years after the performance of the eye operation. Iritis and iridocyclitis may arise in the first week after a cataract operation and induce the onset of glaucoma, as inflammations of the iris and ciliary body favour the forming of adhesions and tend to increase the eye pressure. The spreading of the process of inflammation may involve the choroid, retina and vitreous, and pave the way to a shrivelling of the eyeball. Also a condition may ensue which is called panophthalmitis or panophthalmia. It consists in an inflammation and suppuration of the entire eyeball and ends invariably in the complete destruction and loss of the eye, which finally has to be enucleated. A similar condition sometimes develops in the healthy eye as so-called sympathetic ophthalmitis. This disastrous complication shows that not even the unaffected eye is out of danger, because, unfortunately, this disease picture often leads to atrophy and blindness of both eyes.
Anomalies of Wound Healing. Through vomiting, coughing, sneezing, stooping, pressing, etc., the wound may burst open several times or its closure may be delayed for days and weeks by the same provocative factors or by constitutional disorders, such as diabetes, general body weakness and decrepitude. This involves four dangers: The interposition of eye tissue between the lips of the wound, glaucoma, wound infection and suppuration of the globe. The same dangerous situation develops when the scar is too soft and bulges outwards. If interior eye tissue slips forward, inflammations may take place which involve the unoperated eye and endanger the eyesight. This occurs especially in case of an iris prolapse. The slipping forward of the larger part of the vitreous includes the possibility of retinal detachment. Further Operative Complications. They affect (a) the conjunctiva, which may tear where it is held by the forceps; (b) the cornea, which sometimes sustains abrasions and irritations of its tissue; (c) the iris, which may fall in front of the knife and give rise to pain and bleeding; (d) the lens, which in some cases becomes dislocated during a cataract operation or injured during an operation for glaucoma or detachment of the retina.
Subjective Eye Symptoms. A survey of the subjective eye symptoms reveals the following abnormal conditions: There may be after the operation an astigmatism which makes the eyesight indistinct and is a source of much inconvenience and discomfort to the patient. In other cases one sees anomalies of the colour perception where after the cataract operation the patient sees for a number of weeks all objects tinted in a red, yellow, green, blue or violet colour. In other cases post-operative pain indicates that something is wrong with the eye and points to the development of complications. In some cases neuralgic headaches are complained of for some time after the operation. I remember patients who after the operation for detachment of the retina were suffering from double vision or distorted vision, whereby, as a result of the pathological changes in the operated retina tissue, objects looked at seemed to be deformed and distorted. General Complications. When elderly patients have to stay in bed for a period of a few weeks, the recumbent posture brings about a congestion in the lungs and leads to pneumonia, which very often ends fatally. Old patients suffering from an enlargement of the prostate sometimes sustain an acute urinary retention. In advanced years sudden death may occur as a consequence of the operation. The acid-poisoning of the blood in diabetes may occasionally provoke diabetic coma or a state of complete unconsciousness, which not infrequently causes the death of the patient. In a few cases the shattered state of the nerves before the operation for cataract, glaucoma and detachment of the retina and the shock which the surgical intervention involves have unbalanced the mind of the patient and produced insanity, which is mostly temporary. Post-operative Glaucoma. Glaucoma develops as a con sequence of the operation, if the tissues of the iris, lens capsule, or vitreous body are incarcerated in the scar of the wound or if lens particles are present in the front chamber of the eye. Then the normal fluid outflow from the interior of the eye is interfered with by the narrowing or closing of the chamber angle (see diagram on p. 8). This results in an obstruction of drainage and disturbance of circulation and induces an increase of tension in the eyeball and the disease picture of glaucoma. By the deposit of sticky substances and the formation of pathological tissue adhesions, iritis also subjects the eye to a mechanical blockade and congestion of the lymph passage and to a sub sequent elevation of the pressure in the eye. In children a congestive glaucoma may come about after a cataract operation through the sudden swelling of the lens. The dangerous and dreaded complication of glaucoma occurs after the removal of congenital, juvenile and senile cataract as well as after the operation for detachment of the retina.
Detachment of the Retina. Retinal detachment is another most disastrous complication which happens very often as a result of a cataract operation and is the cause of a considerable percentage of blindness. Especially short-sight of a high degree predisposes to detachment of the retina. Normally sighted, hypermetropic or presbyopic persons may likewise be affected. Also the choroid may become detached after the operation for cataract or glaucoma.
Cataract. Cataract is the most serious post-operative complication which results from an operation for glaucoma or detachment of the retina. It is due to a mechanical injury of the lens, which may be scratched or cut when sharp instruments are introduced into the narrow eye chamber. This accident has the far-reaching consequence of clouding the lens substance and giving rise to all the misery connected with the disease picture of cataract.
Occurrence of Post-operative Complications. With the exception of insanity, all the complications during and after the operation to which I have called the reader’s attention are no rare occurrence. They have happened and do happen daily in an appreciable number of cases. They endanger more or less the eyesight and lead to blindness and even to the excision of the eyeball, or to death. It may be that the experience of the different eye specialists varies a little, but these accidents and injuries are undeniable facts which are proved by clinical statistics and the vast majority of leading eye surgeons all over the world. Consequently, it would be a gross mistake to belittle the perils arising from the performance of eye operations. Why is the prognosis given by eye surgeons always so guarded and uncommittal? Why are they so unwilling to give a definite opinion as to the harmlessness of the eye operation? The simple reason is that in each case, how ever favourable the circumstances may be, there is always the possibility of failure and, no matter how skilfully the operation is performed, there are numerous untoward accidents which may complicate the operation and have disastrous consequences to vision, to the great disappointment of patient and surgeon. Every surgeon knows very well that, even if the chances seem to be very good, they are never certain. That is why no guarantee is given regarding the exclusion of operative and post-operative complications. Patients are sometimes told that the modern technique of eye operations obtains better results. In answer to this, I should like to refer the reader to handbooks dealing with modern operations on the eyes. One will then be greatly surprised to learn what a great number of complications may result from operative interventions and what bad visual results or even loss of vision may be the consequence of unsuccessful operations.
11. THE EYESIGHT AFTER THE OPERATION IS UNSATISFACTORY The patient’s vision can be improved only by proper attention to all organic disturbances in the eye tissue brought about by the disease process, as the power of seeing depends upon the condition of health of the whole visual organ. No eye operation fulfils these conditions. It is, therefore, not hard to understand the visual inefficiency of the operated eye and the disappointment of the patient with the operative result. In the chapters dealing with cases of glaucoma, cataract, detachment of the retina and squint I give the special reasons why the eyesight is bad after the operation. Considering the dangers of operations and the unsatisfactory vision resulting from them, I cannot possibly be in favour of any operation in these as well as in other eye diseases.
12. EYE OPERATIONS CAN BE AVOIDED I have already given eleven reasons which speak against surgical interference. My most important reason why I do not advocate operations is the fact that I have succeeded in evolving an effective non-operative method which renders eye operations unnecessary. This method is the result of over thirty years of scientific research and medical practice and makes it possible to treat eye diseases successfully without having resort to the knife in cases of cataract, glaucoma, detachment of the retina and squint. As I shall show in a later part of this book, many other diseases of the eye are equally amenable to non-surgical therapy. I ask the reader to be satisfied with this statement for the moment, as it will be my task to show why operations are neither the surest nor the logical way of dealing with eye diseases and to explain the therapeutical factors which overcome visual defects and eye troubles of all kinds with out operation. Long experience has taught me that an organ of the delicacy of the eye does not require operative intervention, but can be restored to health by well-tested, appropriate measures which are capable of producing the desired healing effect.
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Post by RamOn on Jun 22, 2005 14:50:25 GMT -5
MY SYSTEM OF NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT TREATMENT PLAN Rational treatment must be built on sure foundations, and a prerequisite to overcoming any case of illness in the eyeball is the creation of the most favourable conditions for the curative process. To reach this aim non-operative treatment of eye diseases must be divided into three parts, and a scheme of treatment which I have invariably found to be very beneficial to the eyes is: 1. Aetiological, constitutional therapy. 2. Homoeopathy. 3. Concentrated light- and colour-therapy. Constitutional therapy plays an important part in so far as it is a causative treatment which combats and eliminates general disease-producing causes of the eye trouble. Homoeopathy and light-therapy are also causative treatments, as they not only counteract the local causes of the eye disease, but also remove all those factors which cause functional inefficiency and organic disorganization in the affected eyes. Constitutional treatment largely consists in the application of general measures. Its object is to readjust any constitutional disorder which stands in the way of the cure of the eyes. It utilizes all those therapeutic factors conducive to the promotion of general health, whereas homeopathic and light-therapeutic measures serve the purpose of restoring the health of the eye itself. The therapeutic use of scientific homeopathy is another measure of great importance, as homeopathic treatment acts as a mild stimulation and invigoration of the enfeebled eye cells. It has a very beneficial influence on disease manifestations in the eyeball and helps to consolidate the health of the eye tissues. Local concentrated light- and colour-therapy is the main factor of my non-operative therapy, as radiant energy has a marked healing action and has proved to be the best and safest way of overcoming eye diseases without operation. It has a direct restoring effect on all tissues and functions of the eye, whereas general treatment, however essential it is, must be regarded as an indirect measure which does not cure the eyes, but has more the character of an auxiliary remedy. It supplements and supports in the most useful way the curative effects reached by light-therapeutic measures. It will be the task of this book to demonstrate why the administration of light-treatment is the most important measure and proves to be of such outstanding benefit. In view of the healing results obtained in all kinds of eye diseases, I should like to say that the programme outlined above is an ideal procedure which offers the best chance of successfully eliminating not only the cause of the eye disease but also the visual disturbance and organic tissue damages in the eyes. I will start with the discussion of local treatment which interests the patient most, as it is that part of the non-operative therapy which deals directly with the elimination of the disease process in the eye. After that I will discuss the question of general therapy and homeopathy. I consider the application of the above treatment plan all the more important, as I have learned from long practical experience that orthodox treatment of eye diseases does not give adequate satisfaction either from the patient’s or the physician’s point of view. Before discussing my own system of eye treatment, I will, therefore, give the reader a bird’s-eye view of orthodox treatment of eye diseases and eyesight defects as taught at universities and practised by every eye specialist.
NO PROGRESS MADE IN ABOUT 100 YEARS OF ORTHODOX EYE TREATMENT The outstanding features of the orthodox methods are: If a person is suffering from a visual defect, the exclusive way of dealing with it consists in the prescription of glasses, and if the eyes are affected by an organic trouble, such as cataract, glaucoma, detachment of the retina, or squint, drug treatment, consisting in the instillation of eyedrops, such as atropine, eserine, pilocarpine, etc., may in some cases be administered as a preliminary measure. In the vast majority of cases, however, eye specialists are in favour of performing a surgical operation at once. Only in cataract is the eye operation deferred until the disease process has reached a more progressed or ripe stage. There are other eye diseases of a very serious nature with which orthodox therapy does not even attempt to cope, because specialists have no means at their disposal which would enable them to do so. In such cases patients are being told by their specialists that nothing can be done for them. I refer especially to cases of retinitis pigmentosa, optic atrophy, macula degeneration, etc. (see pp. 194, 2i02). This state of affairs has existed virtually unchanged for about the last 100 years, except for changes in the technique of eye operations which, as my long medical experience and clinical activity in various eye hospitals have taught me, have not improved the operative result and have failed to overcome successfully the disease condition in the eyes and the threat to the eyesight. In this connection it may be of interest to relate that also laymen were struck by this amazing and regrettable lack of progress. This was shown to me by the fact that some of my patients belonging to families where glaucoma and cataract were hereditary had refused operations on their own eyes, because they knew that the same operative treatment had neither cured the eye disease nor prevented partial or total loss of sight in their parents or grandparents. The special part of the book which deals with so-called incurable cases will demonstrate that no branch of medicine is in greater need of reform than the official eye treatment applied by specialists against ailments of the eyes.
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Post by RamOn on Jun 22, 2005 14:52:52 GMT -5
LIGHT-TREATMENT (GENERAL PART) PURPOSE OF LIGHT-THERAPY An eye which is suffering from an eye disease is an extremely weak and prostrate organ. It is in an inferior state and not in a position to resist the disease process. Every sufferer from cataract, glaucoma, detachment of the retina, squint or any disease process in the, cornea, iris, retina and optic nerve knows from his own experience that without proper treatment his eye trouble increases. For this reason, we must institute healing factors which give the eye the lacking energy to defend itself and re-awaken its recuperative forces. In this respect it is only logical to learn from practical experience. My medical observations, covering several decades, have taught me that light-therapy is the most important part of the treatment which enables the eye tissues to oppose unfavourable influences and supports them effectively in their struggle against the inroads and effects of the disease. Therefore, I regard it as my duty to draw attention to the beneficial action of light-therapy, as it acts as a foundation in the treatment of organic and functional disorders in all parts of the eyeball.
WHY DOES THE EYE REACT SO WELL TO LIGHT-TREATMENT? No organ is better amenable to light-therapeutical measures than the eye. This is due to its favourable anatomical position which makes it very easy to apply light- and ray-treatment. Besides, the eye is, so to speak, an organ of light. Light is the element which the eye and all its tissues need in order to maintain visual efficiency. A healthy eye sees better in good light, and an eye which is weakened or suffering from an eye disease or eyesight defect can be restored more quickly and securely through appropriate light-applications, as they strengthen the eye and increase its health and well-being. The life- and health-promoting qualities of the light applied have a far- reaching effect on abnormal conditions in the visual organ and the faculty of seeing.
MEDICAL TREATMENT IS A SCIENCE DERIVED FROM EXPERIENCE As is the case in every branch of medical therapy, my modern method of treating eye diseases without operation is a science which is derived from experience and practice. It is based on observations and facts and not only on theories. Practical medical experience and not merely theoretical considerations have helped me to evolve and establish this effective method. The therapy advocated in this book is the result of long-continued scientific experiments and clinical tests. It is a carefully thought-out system which has utilized the great number of experiences of many years and can stand any examination.
MODERN LIGHT- AND ELECTRO-THERAPY In more than thirty years of medical experience I have found that, if the health of vital eye tissues, such as the retina, lens or optic nerve, is impaired, there is nothing better than radiant energy of light to restore the state of health in these most sensitive tissue structures. The introduction of modern light-treatment and electro-physical therapy has revolutionized the treatment of eye diseases by placing the medical treatment on a much broader basis and increasing the possibilities of success to a considerable degree and especially by making eye operations unnecessary. No branch of medicine will give physician and patient greater satisfaction than light-therapy, as it offers the best chance of relieving the suffering of patients and attaining maximum healing and visual results. It does not serve the patient’s best interest if the physician is prejudiced and narrow-minded. To reach the desired results, the most effective measures must be brought into action which are capable to fulfil his expectations. The right application of light-therapy is the principal method which overcomes eye diseases and fosters the health and welfare of the eyes. The effect of radiation- therapy refers to all parts of the eyeball. It extends to the single cell and tissue elements, the muscles, the nerves, the blood, the fluid circulation and the metabolic process. Considering the healing influence of light-therapeutical measures on the recovery and preservation of health, it would be most short-sighted indeed to do without light- and ray-therapy in the non-operative treatment of eye diseases.
WHAT IS CONCENTRATED WHITE LIGHT? As the name implies, concentrated light is based on a special concentration of the light-rays applied. After years of experimentation, I have succeeded in developing a light-source which intensifies the beneficial effect to a most considerable degree. This is shown in the remarkable progress of the patient and the improvement of his vision, which cannot be reached by any other light- therapeutic measure. In order to get a greater amount of effective radiation and to render the transmission of white light a potent therapeutic agent, I recommend to concentrate the light-rays.
CRYSTAL REFLECTORS For the purpose of concentrating light-rays I do not recommend metal reflectors, but large parabolic crystal reflectors with a high focusing power which collect and focus the rays by means of optical lenses and have diameters from 20 to 25 inches. Clinical experience has established the fact that my reflectors greatly increase the strength and the intended healing effect of the radiation. They give off an intensified light, which is most beneficial to the patient, and produce in the irradiated area a pleasant feeling of warmth, well-being and relief. The reflecting material, the position and quality of the bulb, and the concentration of the light make all the difference and are of the utmost importance, as by these factors the reflected light-rays are not dispersed, but parallel and concentrated. This arrangement has the advantage of augmenting the efficiency and therapeutical value of the apparatus and multiplying the radiant energy of the light. It is in this way that the light-rays can be applied to the closed eyes in sufficient intensity and give the effect of deeper penetration. Thus the apparatus becomes a vigorous radiating source.
DEEP-THERAPY LAMPS AND SURFACE-THERAPY LAMPS When applying light-treatment, I use my special reflectors for deep-therapy lamps as well as for surface- therapy lamps. The deep-therapy lamps have, generally speaking, a far-reaching effect on deeper-lying tissues, whereas the surface-therapy lamps exert a more indirect but powerful influence on superficial tissues of the eye and are more general in their effect than the concentrated rays which can be locally focused not only on the cornea and iris tissues, but also on the deeper layers of the lens, vitreous body, retina and optic nerve. To forestall misunderstandings I should like to point out that these lamps have nothing to do with X-rays which I never use for my purposes. I also strictly avoid radium and any other rays (see p. 224) which might have a harmful effect on the eye tissues. Every variety of light-rays which I employ in cases of acute and chronic eye diseases in adults and children is absolutely harmless for reasons which I discuss in Part XIV (p. 221), and in more than thirty years of light- and ray-treatment I have never experienced any undesired after-effect.
STRICT INDIVIDUALIZATION OF CONCENTRATED LIGHT-THERAPY Dosage, duration and frequency of application are a matter of individualization and depend upon the sources of radiation. No matter whether I administer white or coloured light, the time of radiation is dependent upon the necessities and peculiarities of each case and varies from a few minutes to half an hour. In my institute of non-operative therapy I use lamps of varying candle power up to 2,000 watt. The correct selection of the healing factors indicated as well as the proper combination and sequence of electro-physical and light-therapeutic measures are a matter of practical experience and an inestimable aid in the treatment of all kinds of disease conditions in the eye. Under the various disease groups I give particulars about the technique of light-treatment which I have very often found most useful. From the practical point of view, the kind of light to be applied depends, of course, on the stage and type of the disease and differs in acute and chronic processes. Another decisive factor regarding the choice of rays and their application is to adjust one’s light-therapeutical measures and combination of rays according to the various conditions which exist in the diseased visual organ, and to the changes which take place during the course of light-treatment.
LIGHT ATTACKS THE DISEASE FROM EVERY ANGLE To make the specific effects of artificial light-sources understandable, I am going to show that light-therapeutical agents attack the eye disease from every angle and operate from different directions, always aiming at the same end of a complete and permanent recovery. This recovery consists in the functional and organic improvement and restoration of the entire visual apparatus. Light-therapy is the most essential and most effective part of local treatment, as it initiates the process of healing, It shortens the disease and quickly starts the affected eye on the road to good health. To understand the healing effects of light- and ray- treatment, it may be of interest to the reader to know what goes on in a diseased eye. The eye cannot be healthy unless the life-processes of its cells and the physiological functions of its vital parts are normal, If disturbances arise in this respect, the functional and structural quality suffers, and the affected visual organ becomes a victim of disease and organic disintegration. There are five causes which bring about pathological conditions in the eye: Firstly, the disorganization of the blood- and lymph-stream. Secondly, the deterioration of the cell nutrition. Thirdly, the cell irritation arising from the fluid stagnation. Fourthly, the tissue degeneration resulting therefrom. Fifthly, an insufficient supply of nervous energy to the tissues of the eyeball.
TOXIC CONDITION OF THE EYEBALL The diseased eye is an inactive organ, and the motion of the blood- and lymph-stream is interfered with in the sections afflicted with the disease. When the fluids of the eyeball are slow-moving and stagnant, congestions come about which involve either certain parts or the whole of the visual organ. The consequence is that the affected tissues are lacking in the regular flow of sound blood and, instead of being constantly supplied with healthy bodily fluids which circulate quickly in their passages, the eye cells are not properly nourished, and the tissues become overladen with acids, poisons and harmful by-products of the metabolic process. As, in addition, the waste elimination is inadequate or entirely defective, foreign substances burden the eye and irritate and damage its structures. So we see that circulatory sluggishness leads to insufficient cell nutrition, to retention and decomposition of the stagnated contents, and to a considerable irritation of the delicate eye tissues. The excessive toxic condition in the eyeball has a most deleterious influence on the functional and structural quality of the eye tissues, as the eye cells draw their nourishment from poisonous sources which injure the cornea, lens, iris, retina and optic nerve, as the case may be. This is a brief survey of the processes which in the majority of cases give rise to the development of eyesight disturbances and undermine the functional power and organic integrity of the diseased eye.
EFFECTS OF LIGHT-TREATMENT If we want to put new life into the whole visual organ and secure a full success, I cannot lay sufficient stress on the efficacy of light-therapy, which, generally speaking, has the following beneficial effects: 1. Light stimulates the healing power. 2. Light gives the disease process a change for the better. 3. Light accelerates the healing process. 4. Light reconditions the visual organ. 5. Light prevents deterioration and relapse. 6. Light makes an eye operation unnecessary. 7. Light safeguards the other eye. 8. Light quickly improves the eyesight.
1. LIGHT STIMULATES THE HEALING POWER At the bottom of all eye trouble is the breakdown of the defensive mechanism. After the cells of the various vital tissues of the eye have been exposed for a longer period of time to all kinds of damaging influences, their vitality becomes more and more weakened and depleted, their power of resistance collapses and is ultimately crushed. There is no better remedy to strengthen the defensive faculty of the eye than the tonic effect derived from the utilization of light-therapeutic measures. They awaken the healing and recuperating forces which render it possible for the patient to put up a successful fight against the disease manifestations in the eye and to lessen its susceptibility to disease. True medical art consists in developing and assisting the health-protecting forces of eye and body. The task of the physician is to raise the patient’s local and general resistance and to stimulate the recuperative powers of the organism. When the resisting ability is enhanced, the patient is enabled to meet and throw off the attack of the disease. An eye which is afflicted with a disease is a weak organ which shows morbid changes in its life-processes and physiological functions. Since the eye of the patient has not sufficient strength to ward off the disease process on its own account, it must be provided with energies which increase its reacting capacity and natural healing tendency. Light-therapy, and especially concentrated white light (p. 28), arouses the defensive mechanism of the eye and brings its reactive power into action. In long medical practice I have evolved light-therapeutical measures which neutralize and counterbalance the effects of the eye disease. In this respect, light-treatment has a specific, dynamic effect. Just as a spark starts the ignition in a motor engine, so the various kinds of light applied to the diseased eyeball are the source of energy which awakens and increases the inactive healing forces of the eye. It initiates the curative process and gives the patient the necessary start towards the improvement and restoration of his eyes. When the healing force of the light-therapy and the curative, tendency inherent in every bodily organism are combined in an effectively enhanced co-operation, they pave the way for the recovery and cure of the eyes and ensure a quick course of healing, and the patient quickly notices that they bring about a conspicuous improvement of the visual function and induce a return to the normal state of health. This is the responsive effect on the eye which, without the therapeutic help of radiant energy, would be unable to react favourably to the measures taken.
2. LIGHT GIVES THE DISEASE PROCESS A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER The application of the radiant energy of light is essentially a tonic therapy which revives the weakened eye cells and arouses vigorous reparative action in all tissues. It is the driving power which gives the eye that extra energy and reserve of vitality required to restore health and strength. As a result of the light-treatment, I have time and again made the observation that the disease process in the eye very soon takes a definite course for the better. If the right therapeutical measures are instituted, the eyes readily respond to the treatment. This is shown by the circumstance that the eye disease quickly modifies and reverses its course. It loses its acute, progressive and malignant character and assumes a mild and auspicious aspect. As an effect of the invigoration of the eye through modern therapeutic factors, the force of the disease is broken, and its tendency to spread and gain further ground is checked. The change in the process of the disease is revealed also by the most welcome and obvious relief of the subjective complaints. Through its energizing influence the institution of concentrated light creates conditions that form the safest and most favourable basis for the quick restoration of the eyesight and the health of the eyes, and this fact, which is due to the salutary stimulations and reactions in the eyes, is the outstanding feature of the light-therapy.
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Post by RamOn on Jun 22, 2005 14:55:46 GMT -5
3. LIGHT ACCELERATES THE HEALING PROCESS To make the healing results understandable, I will shortly point out the therapeutic effects arising from my radiation-therapy. In order to facilitate an undisturbed course of healing and expedite the process of recovery, we must establish a counterbalance against the adverse influences of the disease. We must exclude the disorganization of the blood- and lymph-stream, the disturbances of the nutrient mechanism of the eye, as well as the irritative and degenerative conditions in its cells and tissues. Abundant medical practice and clinical observation have taught me that light-therapy is the most effective remedy which eliminates all these pathological factors and corrects the harm done to the eye and the eyesight. What are the factors which bring about an acceleration of the curative process in the eyes?
(a) The first factor is the stimulation of the blood and lymph circulation. (b) The second factor is the improvement of nutrition and metabolism. (c) The third factor is the elimination of congestive conditions in the eye. (d) The fourth factor is the exclusion of pressure, cell irritation and pain. (e) The fifth factor is the elimination of toxic conditions in the eye. (a) Stimulation of the Blood and Lymph Circulation In the non-operative treatment of eye diseases, light- therapy is of special value, as it readjusts the balance in the circulation of the eyeball. The diseased eye is an inactive organ in which the motion of the blood- and lymph- stream is interfered with in the different sections affected by the eye disease. To relieve circulatory disturbances and smooth the way for a free fluid-passage in the lens, iris, retina and so on, I urgently recommend the stimulus of photo-therapeutic radiation. Just as certain medicines actively support a weak heart, so the employment of concentrated white light acts as a specific stimulant which has a rousing effect on the sluggish current of blood in the eye. Active circulation is a fundamental law of health, and in all eye troubles it is just the circulatory sluggishness which must be acted upon by light-therapy in order to remove the diseased condition. No case can remain obstinate to treatment, because the intensive local stimulation of the stream of fluid is the first and most important impulse in initiating the healing effect in eye diseases. The gratifying result is that the progress towards recovery can now go on without interruption, as the fluid- currents are accelerated and widened and no longer stagnant and disorganized. Light-treatment fulfils the vital task of eliminating mechanical obstructions in the circulatory system of the eye. It restores the permeability of the arteries, veins and lymph spaces in the eyeball and sets the eye fluids going, thus furnishing an outlet for irritants and deposits in the eye tissues. This result is accomplished by well-chosen physical measures which bring about a lively blood movement in the superficial and deeper parts of the eye. What eye surgeons try and very often fail to reach by complicated and dangerous operations is achieved in a very efficient way by radiation without exposing the patient to any risk.
(b) Improvement of Nutrition and Metabolism By restoring the circulation in the eye, light-therapy is, as far as my experience goes, of the greatest help in bringing an increased supply of fresh and sound blood to the eye tissues and furnishes them with nutrient materials which are essential for sustaining their organic existence and vital life-processes. The light reinforces the biological functions of the eye cells and gives them the power and energy to be equal to their various important tasks. These consist (a) in absorbing and digesting food; (b) in eliminating useless and toxic matter; and (c) in repairing and rebuilding the tissue cells. The more lively these physiological processes are, the more quickly will organic dysfunction and nutritive and metabolic disorder disappear, and a normal and healthy metabolism result which proceeds at a high level of efficiency without any pathological disturbances. The retina, optic nerve, lens, as well as all other parts of the eye, benefit greatly from the improved cell activities, which facilitate the interchange of nutriment, fluids and salts in the eye tissues and result in the development of strong and disease-resisting eye cells.
(c) Elimination of Congestive Conditions in the Eye The readjustment of the circulatory conditions yields further results, It has the health-promoting effect of breaking passive congestion, and the immediate con sequence is that the surplus masses of the blood and lymph fluid start flowing and are removed from the congested eye sections. This is of greatest importance in the treatment of cataract, glaucoma, detachment of the retina or inflammations in any part of the eyeball. The dilatation of the fluid channels allows the stagnations in the blood- vessels and eye tissues to pass off and makes it possible for the eye to absorb and get rid of the excess amount of the liquid contents and tissue deposits in its interior. This is the beneficial result of the light-treatment, and no surgical operation is necessary to accomplish this effect. These general remarks may suffice for the moment, as I am going into greater detail in the special part which deals with the effects of light-treatment on single eye diseases.
(d) Exclusion of Pressure, Cell Irritation and Pain The animation of the blood-stream, the easing of the congestion in the eye, and the restoration of its fluid equilibrium bring about additional healing results. The eye loses its pathological fullness and hardness, as the light-therapeutical measures establish a permanent drainage in the eye and prevent abnormal retention in its blood-vessels and lymph spaces. When the blood and lymph circulate again freely, undue pressure on the tissues and nerves disappears and, consequently, eye pain is eliminated and all irritative conditions in the eye quiet down, as by the circulatory regulation all harmful effects are removed. In the treatment of eye diseases, it is well to remember the pressure- and pain-relieving properties of the light- therapy, as it brings great relief and makes an operation unnecessary. Light alleviates and checks all factors of irritation and overcomes inflammatory processes which give rise to swellings, adhesions, and the collection of pathological exudates.
(e) Elimination of Toxic Conditions in the Eye The removal of the state of stagnation is a healing factor of great therapeutic value. It puts an end to the retention and decomposition of the stagnated contents and dead cells as well as to the accumulation of acids and poisons which burden, irritate and damage the cells and tissues of the eye. Thus the non-operative treatment accomplishes a relieving and detoxicating effect by freeing the eye from the encumbrance of waste matter and irritants of all kinds and abolishing a harmful condition of self-poisoning and acidosis. The eliminating action of the light brings with it three advantages: It arrests all deleterious influences under which the tissue structures and cell activities labour and makes the return to normal cell function possible by the cleaning and detoxication of the entire visual organ. In addition, it breaks up and dissolves the liquid gatherings, foreign substances, salt deposits and other morbid secretions, as well as blood clots and fibrous adhesions, which are in the way of normal physiological processes and conditions. In this way light-therapy helps to restore the best possible conditions for the quick recovery of the diseased eye.
4. LIGHT RECONDITIONS THE VISUAL ORGAN My light-therapy deals not only with the affected part or parts of the eye, but also with the eye as a whole. This is absolutely necessary, since, when one important section suffers, the visual organ suffers in its entirety. An essential factor in the recovery of the eye is the comparatively easy accessibility of the affected parts to the therapeutic measures. Every section of the eye can be reached and favourably influenced, and the beneficial effect refers to the restoration of the power of vision as well as to the recovery of the entire visual apparatus, as far as its organic and functional condition is concerned. An important point for consideration is the fact that, in response to the normal and sound conditions brought about by the light-therapeutic agents, a vigorous reparative reaction sets in, which puts in order the internal processes in the flagging system of the visual organ and brings the eye cells back to their regular physiological standard. The marked regenerative action initiated by the light-treatment is the result of the following factors: (a) The increase of the reacting capacity and natural tendency of healing. (b) The circulatory regulation in, and the decongestion of, the eyeball. (c) The discontinuance of the toxic influence of acid residues in vital portions of the eye. (d) The purification of the eye tissues. (e) The stimulation of functional activity. (f) The activation of cellular metabolism.
All these processes form the physiological foundation for the renewal and reconditioning of the eye tissues on a new and improved basis and are due to the light-therapy, which acts as a powerful stimulus and conveys an energy reserve and vital life-force to all cells of the eyeball. Concentrated white light stops cellular and organic disintegration and creates conditions which are conducive to the promotion of good health and rapid ceil regeneration. The main effect of radiation treatment is that it achieves the vitalization of the eye tissues and the rejuvenation of the eye cells. It gives the greatest impetus to building up stronger, more vital and more resistant eye structures. According to my experiences, tissue damages in so-called incurable diseases of the eye need not be beyond remedy, because careful treatment may attain a far-reaching anatomical and functional improvement and enables the eye tissues to make a successful reparative effort. My clinical observations covering several decades show that pathological changes do not constitute absolutely unalterable conditions, since they are capable of taking a definite course for the better after the institution of modern physical remedies and powerful therapeutic resources. How all damaged parts are favourably affected by the stimulation of the radiation-treatment, I shall show when I discuss the eye diseases which can be successfully treated without operation.
5. LIGHT PREVENTS A DETERIORATION AND RELAPSE An exacerbation or a relapse can always occur, as long as the aetiological factors continue to be operative. As it is the first and foremost task to eradicate the constitutional and local causes which are at work, light-therapy strikes at the foundation of the eye trouble and gives the best chance of quickly mastering the situation in the eye. The logical consequence of the elimination of all causative factors and harmful influences is that the disease is unable to make further progress. The renewed and reinforced vitality and resisting power of the recovered eye tissues constitute a bulwark against the existence and aggravation of the disease and against its occurrence. The non-operative therapy makes a complete and lasting recovery possible and is the safest preventive treatment, because it utilizes healing agents which provide a rational basis for the perfect restoration of the eye and favour the speedy return to a normal state of health. As both eyes are treated, the healthy eye is protected from being involved in the disease process. Considering the beneficial results derived from the combination of several light-therapeutic factors and the combined application of appropriate local and general measures, the outlook for the health and well-being of the eyes in the future is most favourable.
6. LIGHT MAKES AN EYE OPERATION UNNECESSARY It is a very comforting fact that the scientific measures of the light-therapy have a most reviving effect and form the vital spark which calls forth and stimulates far-reaching healing reactions. They increase the chances of success and make eye operations quite unnecessary. When I check over my records, they prove to be such over whelming evidence as to the therapeutic value of radiation- treatment that I feel qualified to recommend it as the best method of successfully dealing with acute, sub-acute and chronic eye diseases and avoiding surgical interference. As the treatment succeeds in ameliorating the circulatory, metabolic and eliminating processes and in rectifying degenerations in the eye tissues, the eye is no longer in the grip of the disease, and the way is paved for an all-round improvement. The complete system of the visual organ is put into smooth running order, and all its parts are bound to improve organically and functionally. There is no necessity for taking resort to the knife, as, in contrast to non-operative therapy, no operation has any influence on tissue damages in the eye, nor does it bring the damaged retina and optic nerve back to their original condition. To effect these changes in the eye tissues in a favourable way, one cannot do without light-therapeutical measures. The various sources of light are potent curative agents, which must be instituted in a concerted action against the disease process, and no one who knows how to apply them correctly will be disappointed with the undeniable visual and organic improvement of the eye. Experience has shown that light-treatment augments the effectiveness of the medical service rendered. It substitutes the favourable conditions for the unfavourable ones which exist in the affected eye, and gives the patient the necessary start towards the improvement and restoration of his eyes. The healing action of radiant energy is so effective that I can say without exaggeration that there is practically no limit to the possibilities of increasing the strength of the eyes and developing their normal state and function. This refers to early as well as to far-advanced cases, which can be treated with equal success.
7. LIGHT SAFEGUARDS THE OTHER EYE Light-treatment not only strengthens and heals the affected eye, but also safeguards the other unaffected or partly affected eye. One must always remember the general rule that when one eye is afflicted with a disease the second eye requires prophylactic treatment. One has to forestall the development of glaucoma, cataract and detachment of the retina in the other eye, because these diseases are bilateral affections. When general disease states are present, the consequence is that the tissues are not supplied with healthy blood, but nourished with nutrient fluids which have been pathologically altered by the degenerated metabolism. The logical conclusion is that not only the body but also the eyes are brought under unfavourable conditions. So it comes about that the disease process tends to become bilateral. As both eyes are confronted with danger, the best plan is to submit both eyes to the curative treatment. As long as the second eye is still sound, it becomes stronger through the application of therapeutical measures and more capable of resisting injurious influences and does not fall a victim to the same eye disease. In this prevention lies the significance of the treatment of both eyes. The simultaneous treatment of the healthy eye is an absolute necessity and must go hand in hand with that of the affected eye. If the other eye is already involved, it is understood that an intensive treatment must be instituted in order to bring the less progressed disease to a standstill and to effect a quick cure.
8. LIGHT QUICKLY IMPROVES THE EYESIGHT As the diseased eye is an inactive organ, I base the treatment on the action of powerful radiating sources which remove the devitalized conditions in the eyeball and tone up its tissues. By increasing the vital force in all parts of the eyes, the power of vision is automatically developed and intensified, because the quality of an organ and its functional efficiency are dependent upon each other. In actual experience I have found no other measure to be of more decided benefit than light-treatment, as it puts new life into the whole visual organ and brings the eye back to a high level of visual function. That is why light-treatment achieves a quick improvement of the eyesight. I should like to lay special stress upon the fact that there is an almost immediate and marked response after a few treatments and I call particular attention to the circumstance that the visual improvement, once established, remains. There is not a single disturbance of the eyesight which is not radically and quickly changed for the better by the treatment. In a short time all those subjective symptoms which trouble the patient and are a source of worry can be greatly relieved and eliminated without operation. By employing all the scientific methods of examination, one can exactly determine how the eye is functioning. Thus one can record the actual progress made. The factors which improve the state of near and distant vision are (1) the strengthening of the retina, (2) the strengthening of the muscular mechanism and focusing power of the eye.
1. The strengthening of the retina results (a) from the stimulation and revival of its light-sensitive elements by the light applied, (b) from the restoration of the conductivity of the optic nerve, (c) from the better circulation, (d) from the improved nutrition and metabolism of the retina cells.
2. The strengthening of the focusing action of the eye is brought about (a) by elimination of eyestrain, whereby one removes an important source of faulty vision, (b) by proper relaxation, which eliminates tensions and rigid conditions in the muscular system of the eyeball and increases the flexibility and adaptability of the focusing muscles. Concentrated light-therapy directly and indirectly regenerates and revitalizes the damaged nerve fibres of the inner eye and gives the first impetus to the process of healing, and, besides, it strengthens the focusing muscles and enhances the faculty of accommodation. Light puts the visual organ into, and keeps it in, good working order. Radiation-treatment gives the patient a great deal of satisfaction, when actual eyesight improvement makes itself felt by two facts: Firstly, he soon sees better with and with out glasses and, secondly, he notices that the glasses worn by him before the treatment become too strong. This proves conclusively the improvement of the eyes. No other method can claim this result.
COLOUR-THERAPY After I have explained the effects of concentrated white light, I shall now discuss the qualities of coloured light.
THE MAIN COLOURS IN COLOUR-THERAPY Red, blue, green and yellow are the principal colours used in the treatment of eye diseases. Sufficient experience of colour- or photo-therapy shows that its merits are so great that this kind of radiation-therapy must be regarded as an important therapeutic measure. Much greater use ought to be made of it. Unfortunately, in medical circles little is known about its therapeutic results and, to my knowledge, there are no books which deal with the subject of colour- therapy in eye diseases. For this reason, it is necessary to speak about the effects of coloured light on the eyes.
RED LIGHT The main characteristic of red light is its stimulating influence on the blood and nerves. It excites and urges the circulation to vigorous motion and causes a hyperaemia, or an excess of blood. It is, therefore, contraindicated in a case of fresh inflammation, such as acute retinitis or iritis. The stimulus of red light may be valuable in cataract and detachment of the retina, where it arouses the blood and lymph current to increased activity. Thus it initiates and supports the removal of the deposits between the lens fibres in cataract and of the fluid accumulation under the retina in retinal detachment. If the patient suffers from paralysis of an external eye muscle, red is a stimulant which may stir on its working power and augment its efficiency. I have *****
NECESSITY OF GOOD LAMPS When one applies coloured light, no matter what colour or colour-combinations are used, one must be well-informed about the exact colour and quality of the light-waves given off by the lamp. The emitted light must be pure and dependable, and on no account must it furnish infra-red rays, which have to be strictly excluded from the treatment of the eye tissues. Carbon-arc lamps yield good results. When the core of the carbon is impregnated, one must know the substance used for the purpose of impregnation. If the core contains strontium, the carbon emits ultra-violet and infra-red rays and is, therefore, unfit for being employed in eye diseases. Also cores which contain tungsten, iron, nickel or cobalt are not to be used as electrodes. Carbons are impregnated with various metals and salts and give a more greenish, bluish, yellow or violet light. I am in favour of carbons, which send forth a pure white light and are, above all, free from infra-red and ultra-violet.
COLOUR-COMBINATIONS The curative treatment is based on the action of powerful radiating sources. It depends on the momentary stage of the disease process in the eye whether one must at a given period apply light-therapeutical factors which stimulate or soothe or whether one wants to act on the circulation or the nervous system of the eye, on inflamed tissues or tissue deposits, on stagnations and congestions or on areas lacking in blood and lymph, on external parts of the eye or on the interior of the eyeball. According to these therapeutical indications, it may be necessary for a time to increase the circulation, or to normalize it, or even to slacken it. In other cases one has sometimes to concentrate one’s attention especially on counteracting inflammatory and degenerative processes in the eyeball or on strengthening weakened or paralysed eye muscles. One may have to vitalize damaged eye tissues or to augment the activity of the cells of the lens, retina or optic nerve, as the case may be. Or the eye may be in need of stimulation of its absorptive, eliminative, reactive faculties, etc. Each desired effect demands a different colour-tone or combination of colours. Each disease necessitates, of course, a different treatment and strict individualization. When treating a patient, one has to take all kinds of circumstances into consideration, as at different times one may in one and the same disease process have to adjust the light-therapeutical measures to these special requirements. This shows that any colour may be indicated at a given moment. Taking this reservation into account, I will later in each disease group state the colour-combinations which were preferably used in my treatment of the eye diseases dealt with in this book.
********* Chelidonium, Colchicum, Conium maculatum, Kali phos phoricum, Lapis renalis, Ledum palustre, Lycopodium clavatum, Magnesia carbonica, Magnesia phosphorica, Naphthalinum, Natrum muriaticum, Nitricum acidum, Phosphorus, Phosphoricum acidum, Secale cornatum, Senega, Sepia, Silica, Succus Cineraria maritima, Sulphur, Uranium nitricum. There is a great variety of other remedies which may have to be instituted to meet the various indications of each individual case.
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Post by RamOn on Jun 22, 2005 14:56:35 GMT -5
HOMGOPATHIC MEDICINES USEFUL IN GLAUCOMA Among the glaucoma remedies I mention Aconitum napellus, Apis mellifica, Atropinum sulphuratum, Aurum metallicum, Belladonna, Bryonia, Causticum, Cedron, Chelidonium majus, Colocynthis, Comocladia, Eserinum, Gelsemium, Glonoinum, Ipecacuanha, Natrum muriaticum, Nux vomica, Osmium, Phosphorus, Plumbum, Prunus spinosa, Ranunculus bulbosus, Rhododendron, Spigelia. Other remedies may be appropriate to counteract the manifold disease conditions and symptoms in eye and body.
HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES USEFUL IN DETACHMENT OF THE RETINA In cases of retinal detachment the following remedies are often made use of: Apis mellifica, Arnica montana, Arsenicum album, Aurum muriaticum, Belladonna, Crotalus sativus, Digitalis, Gelsemium, Hyoscyamus niger, KaIi carbonicum, Kali iodatum, Lachesis, Lycopodium clavatum, Mercurius, Mezereum, Phosphorus, Pulsatilla nigricans, Rhus toxicodendron, Spigelia. This is a selection of a few remedies which I have often applied. But there are many more. They must be prescribed in accordance with the symptoms which one wants to treat.
HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES USEFUL IN SQUINT Homoeopathic treatment may require the prescription of Alumen, Alumina, Apis mellifica, Belladonna, Cicuta virosa, Cina, Cyclamen, Gelsernium, Hyoscyamus niger, Jaborandi, Natrum phosphoricum, Sepia, Spigelia. A correctly selected homeopathic medicine in combination with local light-treatment and appropriate eye-muscle training may greatly help to bring the deviating muscle back to its normal position.
HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES USEFUL IN PARALYTIC SQUINT I recommend the administration of Aconitum, napellus, Agaricus muscarius, Allium sativum, Aluminia, Argentum nitricum, Arnica montana, Aurum, Carbo animalis, Causticum, Chelidonium, Cicuta virosa, Gelsemium, Kali iodatum, Mercurius iodatus flavus, Nux vomica, Physo stigma, Rhus toxicodendron, Spigelia. Much good can be done in paralytic squint if, in addition to the local light-therapy and the general treatment of the organism, the right homeopathic medicines are instituted.
HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES USEFUL IN DISEASES OF THE OPTIC NERVE In optic atrophy, optic neuritis, papilloedema, toxic amblyopia I recommend: Argentum nitricum, Arsenicum album, Atropinum sulfuricum, Belladonna, Bryonia alba, Conium maculatum, Glonoinum, Mercurius, Nux vomica, Phosphor, Plumbum metallicum, Sanguinaria canadensis, Tabacum, Veratrum viride. Other remedies may be required according to the necessities of each particular case.
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Post by RamOn on Jun 22, 2005 14:57:36 GMT -5
LIGHT-TREATMENT (Special Part) Detachment of the Retina Its Significance and Non-operative Treatment WHAT IS DETACHMENT OF THE RETINA? As implied by the name, retinal detachment is a disease condition in which the retina is partially or totally separated from the underlying choroid. From the pathological stand point, it would be more accurate to say that the separation takes place only between two retina layers, namely the nervous layer of rods and cones and the pigmentary layer, which remains closely connected with the choroid.
SIGNIFICANCE OF DETACHMENT OF THE RETINA The retina is the most essential organ of vision. It is the task of its light-sensitive cells to transform the vibrations of light into visual impulses. Only a healthy retina can attend to its normal function. If disease conditions take place in this eye section, very considerable visual disturbances come about and may lead to a more or less complete state of blindness. In this danger lies the great significance of detachment of the retina.
WHAT CAUSES THE REDUCTION OF VISION? The visual derangement is due to the fact that the detached part of the retina undergoes degenerative changes. These are the result of a nutritional disorder which seriously interferes with the functional and receptive faculty of the retina membrane. Retinal tissue degeneration leads to a progressive visual impairment which, when unchecked, sooner or later ends in total loss of vision. The reduction in visual acuity depends (a) on the degree of the tissue degeneration in the retina; (b) on the time the detachment has existed; (c) on the size of the detached area; and (d) on the peripheral or central position of the detachment. There can be no central vision when the disease process involves the macula lutea or yellow spot which represents the point of sharpest vision (p. 8), and all sight is abolished when the retina is dislocated in its entire surface.
NECESSITY OF EARLY TREATMENT The detachment may be partial and confined only to one section of the retina. It may remain stationary without spreading further. But this is a rare occurrence, as partial dislocation of the retina membrane tends to increase in extent and develop into a total detachment. This tendency to rapid progress makes it necessary not to lose much time and to start counteraction at the earliest possible moment, because delay of treatment aggravates the seriousness of the disease and heightens the danger of blindness. To fore- stall this danger and save the eyesight, early treatment is an absolute necessity.
HOW DOES A DETACHMENT MANIFEST ITSELF? There are a number of symptoms by which a detachment may make itself obvious to the patient. (1) There is a sudden or gradual decrease or loss of sight in one eye. (2) Objects looked at seem to be distorted and deformed. (3) There are sensations of light before the diseased eye, also when the eyelids are closed. (4) Floating specks are perceived before the eye. (5) A dark cloud appears suddenly before the eye. (6) A defect in the sense of light causes visual disturbances, because the retina fails to react to weak light-stimuli. (7) Things are only partially seen. (8) There may be a disturbance in the sense of colour or total colour-blindness. (9) Objects appear to have an abnormal red, blue or violet colouring.
FURTHER CHARACTERISTICS As far as my experience goes, I have found the disease more often in men than in women. Detachment took place mostly between the ages of 45 and 60 and between 20 and 30. The disease may, of course, result from an accident at any age. The majority of all the cases treated by me were due to short-sight. Although the detachment mostly occurred in persons who suffered from short-sight of more than eight diopters, I have seen detachment in patients with medium or even slight short-sight of only two or three diopters. Usually one eye was affected and, as a rule, it was the weaker one of the two. As, however, short-sight is present in both eyes, the disease-producing forces which bring about the detachment in one eye may become active also in the other eye and result in a separation of the retina from the choroid. In a few cases I observed a hereditary tendency, as several members of the family suffered from this trouble. From two to five per cent. of all short-sighted persons become afflicted with detachment. Unless the retina has become detached as a result of short-sightedeness or an accident, one has to think of a tumour as a probable cause of the detachment, and I advise general practitioners to keep that possibility in mind.
DETACHMENT OF THE RETINA AND GENERAL HEALTH Just as in cataract and glaucoma, there is also in retinal detachment an intimate connection between the affection of the retina and the general state of health. All constitutional diseases bring about a reduction of the resisting power of body and eye and, associated with it, morbid conditions in the blood and lymph which weaken the organ of vision and form the basis for the onset of detachment of the retina. The general disorders which I have very often found to be at the back of the eye trouble are, among others, anaemia, clorosis, tuberculosis, syphilis, arteriosclerosis, and exophthalmic goitre. But any constitutional irregu larity (p. 17) may be the predisposing factor of a detach ment. Considering the interrelation between eye and body, it is, of course, a good plan to combine local treatment of the eye with general treatment of the entire system in order to exclude those internal conditions which weaken the visual organ and provoke the outbreak of the eye disease.
PREMONITORY SYMPTOMS Some patients notice the occasional appearance of subjective light-sensations, such as sparks and flashes of light. Besides these striking phenomena which give cause for alarm, there are numerous troublesome specks floating before the eyes and temporarily clouding the field of vision. These specks are due to a considerable amount of opacities in the vitreous body, and their sudden increase indicates the presence of serious pathological processes in the interior of the eye. Together with the light-symptoms which are the result of irritative conditions in the retina, they are a significant sign and often the forerunners of impending detachment of the retina, especially if there is the slightest intimation of a sudden distortion of objects. When untreated, it is a frequent occurrence that these patho logical symptoms in the eyes are after a short time followed by the onset of a detachment of the retina. DIAGNOSTIC HINT It is well to remember that the sudden loss of one part of the visual field always suggests the presence of retinal detachment. I may add here that, from the diagnostic point of view, a detachment which occurs suddenly is due to short sight, unless it is the result of an accident, whereas a detachment which develops gradually is caused by a growing tumour.
WEAKNESS OF A SHORT-SIGHTED EYE It is often entirely overlooked that an eye suffering from a higher degree of short-sight is reduced to extreme weak ness and constitutes an inferior organ which manifests morbid alterations in its functional activity and organic structure. To cope with the prostrate condition of the eyeball, and especially to forestall a detachment of the retina, I have found the application of concentrated light most useful, as its beneficial action strengthens the eye tissues and increases their power of resistance.
MODERN SURGICAL TREATMENT OF DETACHMENT OF THE RETINA Official ophthalmology has devised various surgical measures of treatment for the purpose of bringing about a readjustment of the retina. I need not discuss here the entirely unsuccessful methods of pressure bandages, puncture, injections, prolonged rest in bed, diminution of the eyeball, and the surgical tissue separation of fibrous strands in the vitreous. In the following discussion I will refer only to modern methods of cauterization, the goal of which is to close the hole in the retina by thermo cauterization or with the help of chemical caustics or by means of surgical diathermy. The object in view is to bring about a closure of the existing holes and rents in the retina tissue by inciting the formation of agglutinations and adhesions and fixing the retina to the choroid.
ARE ALL CASES AMENABLE TO CAUTERIZATION? Here I must point out that not all cases of retinal detachment can be treated by this operative procedure. To define the limits of modern cauterization, I should like to call attention to a number of difficulties which are encountered in this kind of operation and make its performance impossible. They consist: 1. In the difficulty of determining with certainty the accurate place of the rent or rents in the retina. 2. In the impossibility of closing a large hole or a number of holes. 3. In the decline of natural powers in elderly persons and in the slow and abnormal healing process caused hereby. 4. In the duration of the disease process, as in cases of long standing cauterization does not succeed. 5. In the failure of effecting a re-attachment in cases where the detached area is large or complete or protruding too far into the space of the vitreous. 6. In the contraindication to operative treatment in cases of reduced general health and great bodily weak ness. 7. In the presence of a greater amount of floating specks and clouds which prevent a clear view of the retina during the operation. 8. In the fragility of the retina tissue which leads to the formation of secondary holes in the scarred retina portion. 9. In the unfavourable prognosis due to the presence of any inflammatory symptoms in the eye. 10. In the impossibility of performing the operation in a lensless eye or in cases of reduced eye pressure. 11. In the necessity of repeating the operation of cauterization for the closure of the hole or of further holes. One never knows for certain whether the cautery has really been put on the particular site of the hole, or whether in the act of cauterization no part of its circumference has been omitted. So it may come about that the closure of a hole is imperfect or that holes may escape notice in spite of the most careful examination of the retina. 12. There are other cases which are likewise inoperable. The operation can be performed only when the hole is near the periphery. When the rent is central, that is, in the neighbourhood of the yellow spot, which represents the most important place of sharp vision—the operation is out of the question, because any operative procedure in this district of the retina would destroy the visual function.
CHANCES OF SUCCESS As we see, there are a great many difficulties which modern operative measures cannot overcome and, from what has been said above, one can conclude how limited the indications for an operation are. Cauterization can be undertaken only in a comparatively small number of selected cases, and even then the prognosis is not good, because the operation does not remove the cause of the trouble and is, therefore, unable to prevent a relapse of the detachment. When ophthalmic surgeons speak of favourable operative results, they do not mean so and so many per cent, of all the cases of retinal detachment, but merely a small percentage of a few selected cases, unless eye surgeons speak of an operative success if the operation wound heals without complication after the re apposition of the retina. A review of medical literature demonstrates beyond a doubt that my statements are correct and borne out by facts.
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Post by RamOn on Jun 22, 2005 14:58:28 GMT -5
RESULTS OF MODERN CAUTERIZATION (a) The operative result may be satisfactory if the detachment is due to an accident and the eye is perfectly healthy and normally sighted before the outbreak of the disease. In this case it is possible to reattach the retina by the operation, because there are in a healthy visual organ no other factors than the injury which has produced the separation of the retinal membrane from the choroid. I have, however, seen and treated cases where even repeated surgical treatment was unsuccessful, although eye and vision were perfectly normal before the accident. In one case the sight of the affected eye was, after three operations, so bad that the patient could see with difficulty only 1/72 of the normal. I have seen other cases where even four or five operations had been performed after the accident. This demonstrates how unsuccessful and unsatisfactory operative treatment can be in such cases. (b) Conditions are altogether different when short sighted persons are afflicted with the disease. An eye which shows a higher degree of short-sight is not a healthy organ. The vast majority of all cases of retinal detachment, namely 66 per cent., are due to short-sightedness, and here the operative results are decidedly not favourable and not permanent. As a matter of fact, they are entirely unsatisfactory. It stands to reason that nothing but causative treatment can have a curative effect. The operation, however, has no influence whatsoever on short-sight. When, therefore, the cause of the detachment is left unaffected, one cannot expect the chances of the operation to be good. If the operation is performed in fresh cases, the re-attachment of the detached retina may sometimes be accomplished. But the end-result is still disappointing, because the success is only transitory and the retina becomes separated again, when it is exposed to the tensional pull arising from the elongation of the eye axis. It is the stretching of the posterior eye pole and the traction of the retina which are essential factors in the causation of the eye trouble and which, as I have experienced, can be overcome only by the relaxing effect of light-treatment. Still worse are the prospects in cases of longer standing, where the operative treatment ends in complete failure. The result is just as bad if the operation is repeated, as the replaced retina becomes once more torn away from the underlying choroid. The results obtained by surgical operations can be summarized by saying that operations undertaken in cases of medium and high degree of short sight offer the worst prognosis, whereas detachment in normally sighted eyes caused by injuries affords relatively the best chance of recovery. As far as the visual field is concerned, the retinal scars resulting from operative intervention effect pathological tissue alterations in the retina which manifest themselves by patches of visual defects. That is to say, the operation gives rise to blind spots where the vision is not merely indistinct, but entirely abolished.
DISSATISFACTION WITH THE VISUAL RESULT When we look at the matter from the patient’s standpoint, he thinks, of course, the eyesight will be restored after the operation. However, when the operation succeeds in bringing the retina back to its original position by re attaching the retinal membrane and closing holes in it, the operative result is most disappointing, because the eyesight is neither improved nor can its total loss be obviated by the surgical procedure of cauterization. And no glasses can bring about a chance for the better or put matters right. As the operation does not and cannot remove the cause of the affection, it is no wonder that little good, if any, arises from modern cauterization and there is an entire lack of visual improvement in cases of detachment due to short sightedness.
DISAPPOINTMENT ABOUT THE NUMBER OF OPERATIONS I must once more call special attention to the fact that, even if the operation as such is successful, it must often be repeated several times. So it happens that the patient has to undergo as many as four or five operations, a circum stance which greatly contributes to his dissatisfaction.
DISSATISFACTION BECAUSE OF OPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS We must now turn to the question whether operative treatment is harmless. There are numerous complications and accidents connected with surgical operations. The complications which, generally speaking, are just the same as those after operations for glaucoma and cataract, are in the main, bleedings, wound infection, re-detachment of the retina, cataract, collapse and atrophy of the eyeball, and loss of eyesight. I need not go into details, because I discuss all operative complications in a special part of the book, beginning on p. 6. Any complication is, of course, a great disappointment to the patient. DISSATISFACTION BECAUSE OF RELAPSES Even if the replacement of the retina is achieved by the operation, the patient is only apparently cured, because medical experience shows that the effect is but temporary. The reason is that no operative procedure guards against the recurrence of the disease. Relapses commonly happen and endanger the patient’s eyesight still more.
DOES OPERATIVE TREATMENT SAFEGUARD THE SECOND EYE? Because orthodox therapy is concerned only with the local treatment of the affected eye, it does not remove the internal causative factors of the trouble (see p. 17), nor does it exempt the second eye from the danger of being affected, too. There is always the prospect that the other eye may succumb to the same unfavourable influences which have caused the disease process in the first eye. Failures and relapses account for the fact that eye surgeons have to point out to the patient that the chances of success are not good in short-sight.
WHY ARE SURGICAL OPERATIONS UNSUCCESSFUL IN RETINAL DETACHMENT? At the beginning of the book I have already mentioned 12 reasons why I am not in favour of any eye operation. As regards my special reasons against surgical methods of treatment in detachment of the retina, I must stress the fact that they are all based on the same fundamental error. They treat the disease product and not the real disease itself. They concentrate their therapeutic measures exclusively on the retina, which in short-sight — that is, in two-thirds of all cases — is originally not diseased at all, but only detached by a mechanical pull exerted on it. Operations try to attain an apposition of the retina. However, they do not at the same time eliminate the causal factor of traction which automatically displaces the retinal membrane. If we wish to cure the detachment, we must rid the patient of the injurious influences arising from the activity of this pulling or separating force. In spite of the re-attachment of the retina and the closure of the holes and rents, failures and recurrences cannot be avoided, as long as operations do not remove the local causes of the detachment—namely, the elongation of the eye axis and the short-sight which bring about the dislocation of the retinal membrane. The forced tissue adhesion by cauterization, which sticks the detached part of the retina to the underlying choroid, gives occasion for the permanent tissue damages and functional disturbances in the retina. Only the elimination of the tensional pull and other causal factors, such as constitutional disorders, which alone account for the separation of the retina, must be the aim of any treatment that intends and is able to effect a cure. Considering all the disadvantages, dangers and post operative complications resulting from cauterization of the retina and, above all, remembering the lack of any eyesight improvement, I leave it to the reader to decide whether any optimism regarding this kind of operation is justified.
EFFECT OF LIGHT-TREATMENT When a detachment has occurred, one must by all means see to it that the detached area of the retina does not spread any further. A partial detachment is liable to increase and become a total detachment, whereby the whole retina becomes involved. My experience shows that this tendency of the disease can be successfully overcome by light-treatment. Especially concentrated white light has a neutralizing effect on all local causative factors. It relaxes the eye and counterbalances the pull which is exerted on the retina by the lengthening of the eye axis. The best criterion of the value of non-operative treatment in cases of detachment of the retina is the marked improvement of vision and the elimination of the disease symptoms, and all evidence furnished by systematic examinations is to the effect that an organic and functional recovery is soon initiated by light-therapeutic measures. In actual experience I have found no other therapeutic procedure to be of more decided benefit than local light-treatment which brings the eye back to the highest possible level of visual function. The restoration of the eyesight is the prominent feature in the non-operative treatment of detachment of the retina. There are many benefits which the patient derives, as the treatment removes subjective symptoms which are troublesome and a constant source of worry. While the operative treatment cripples the eye, the non-operative treatment avoids dangerous surgical measures and restores the eyes by means of powerful but perfectly harmless procedures. These make it possible for the patient to increase the range of vision to a remarkable degree and to recover the health of the eyes, so that life can be enjoyed once more after the elimination of the bodily and mental misery caused by the disease condition of the eye. After these general remarks I will now discuss in greater details the single healing effects and the eyesight improvement in detachment of the retina.
HEALING EFFECTS IN DETACHMENT OF THE RETINA There are many objective signs which prove that the liquid mass behind the retina disappears. When the examination of the interior of the eye is carried out with the aid of an ophthalmoscope, especially in red-free light, we find sufficient evidence that changes for the better are brought about by the light-treatment. (1) The irregular wrinkles in the detached retina part vanish from sight. This is seen in the disappearance of the typical elevations and depressions which are caused by the folding of the retina and make themselves obvious by white wave-like stripes and darker shades between them. The more the liquid accumulation behind the retina is absorbed, the smoother appears its surface and the less moveable is the detached section. Finally, no area of the retina membrane is raised above the level of the surrounding eyeground, and the retina lies no longer in folds, nor does it show any wave-like oscillations, because the light removes the subretinal fluid which causes tremulous motions in the dislocated membrane when the patient turns his head in different directions. (2) The blood-vessels run in a more and more straight line without bending and dipping at various levels in the detached retina, as the retina membrane recedes and becomes stretched. At the border of the detachment they lose their typical kinkings between the detached and the healthy area as well as their abnormal dark or black colour. The return to normality is also indicated by the reappearance of light-streaks, and the vessels lose the thinness which was present while the retina was detached. (3) The difference of refraction between the normal and the detached part of the retina disappears. (4) The eyeball loses its softness and assumes again its normal firmness. At the same time the anterior eye chamber shows again its regular size, and the opacities in the vitreous decrease progressively and stop affecting the eyesight by clouding the field of vision. (5) The discoloration of the detached retina subsides by gradual stages and may disappear entirely and, instead of the diseased area which shows a dull red or grey-white, grey-green, greenish, bluish, bluish-white or bluish-grey colour, we find a more and more normal retina, the colour of which ranges from purple-red, light-red or yellowish-red to chocolate-brown, reddish-brown and yellow. In the healed part one often notices accumulations of pigment and irregular white and yellowish stripes which are always behind the vessels. Unless the detachment has existed too long, the re-attached portion of the retina membrane may adopt an appearance that cannot be distinguished from the normal surroundings. Just as any wound opening heals after a cut, so rents and holes in the retina are closed in a natural way by the formation of scar tissue and require no closure by operative intervention.
EYESIGHT IMPROVEMENT IN DETACHMENT OF THE RETINA In order to remedy the eyesight defects connected with this disease, the powerful measures of the non-operative therapy must be instituted without delay, because the damage done to the retina can be effectively counteracted by radiation. It is not only the examination of the inner eye with the ophthalmoscope which proves the good results in retinal detachment by non-operative therapy, but the beneficial effects of the light applied become obvious also by the improvement of eyesight, the elimination of visual disturbances, and the enlargement of the visual field. Here again it is the circulatory regulation in the entire eye which creates the best healing conditions. Hand in hand with it goes the increased absorption of the effusion of fluids behind the retina, the stimulation of its physiological processes, and the vitalization of its cells which combine to bring about the most favourable influence on the affected and the unaffected part of the retina membrane. The light regenerates its cells and tissues and makes an organic and functional revival possible. That the treatment has a far-reaching effect on the retina can be concluded from the following facts: The retina images improve, the distorted vision subsides and disappears, and the sensations of light before the diseased eye stop. These symptoms are connected with the dislocation of the retina and with the irritation of its nerve elements. The more the detached retina approaches the choroid, the less troublesome is the distortion and deformation of the objects seen. Straight lines, a ruler, a pencil or a knitting needle, which, on account of the disease process, appeared to be crooked, bent, wavy or mis-shaped, assume a more and more regular appearance and do not give the impression of being arched and curved. The more perfect the reapposition of the retina is, the less difficulties are encountered in reading. The confusion of the lines of print is brought to an end, and the letters are no longer displaced to one direction or another, but stand in a row, and the lines are straight again. Sewing and mending are again possible, because the needle seems no longer out of shape and crooked. As long as the detachment of the retina exists, the changes in the form of objects are caused by irregular projection of the light-rays, which do not convey visual perceptions on the detached retina corresponding to the real objects of the outer world. Therefore, the shape of the images received is deformed. Objects are disfigured by curvatures, bendings and kinkings and look quite different from the normal. The more, however, the process of healing progresses, the more is the transformation in the shape of the outer objects modified, and the things seen cease to look distorted, wry, pulled out of shape, diminished, enlarged, shortened, elongated, angular, jagged, uneven, wavy or discontinuous, as the case may be. The symptoms of distorted vision, or metamorphopsia, is always found in this disease, and one can easily imagine that these unpleasant morbid manifestations give the patient a great deal of trouble, discomfort and annoyance. This is especially the case on motion of the eye. Then the detached retina which has lost the supporting basis of the choroid oscillates to and fro, and the objects seem to move in all sorts of undulations, constantly changing their outlines. All the subjective phenomena of light of which the patient complains disappear. It is not hard to understand how the nerve elements of the retina are dragged and irritated as a result of the tremulous movements of the detached part of the, retina. It is to the effect of this nerve irritation that we have to attribute the various subjective light- sensations of all kinds of which the patient is aware. The more the irritating influence on the retina is counteracted and removed, the less does the patient see, before the open or closed eye, light-phenomena, such as fiery points, lines, globes and circles, or sparks of light and flashes like summer lightning, or flaming stars, and similar subjective light-perceptions. The patient is finally no longer bothered by any light-sensations which, as long as the detachment of the retina was present, seemed to be oscillating, rolling, waving or dashing, ascending and descending, or moving from one side to the other. Furthermore, the patient is no longer tormented by a most troublesome sparkling or glittering that may be a constant symptom or comes by fits and starts, specially when he passes from the darkness of a poorly illuminated room into a brightly lighted place. Floating spots are another very annoying and alarming trouble which is removed by the treatment. As a consequence of the formation of opacities in the vitreous, the patient perceives variously shaped structures which float before the eye to and fro in a more or less considerable amount and appear as dark dots, threads, flakes, cobwebs, clouds and skin-like films. These moving particles and the fluidification of the vitreous disappear, because the morbid changes which result from nutritional disturbances can be remedied by improved nutrition of all eye tissues. It is possible to bring its watery state back to a normal condition, so that the small particles swimming in the liquefied vitreous are no longer shifted freely in all directions when the eye is moved. As it is the aim of the therapy to strengthen the health of the eye in its entirety, the vitreous shares in the curative effect. It assumes a more natural, jelly-like consistence, and the floating specks before the eyes become gradually absorbed. In retinal detachment the patient experiences the most striking sensation that objects looked at do not appear to be complete. The more the fluid behind the retina is re absorbed and the more the retina membrane is reattached in its original position by measures of treatment, the less are parts of the field of vision obscured. The visual defects decrease according to the progress of improvement in the retina. The shadows and clouds which move from the side or from above or from below and place themselves in front of the eye, vanish. They cease to extend day by day towards the centre and to rest on the visual field like a dark veil or curtain. During the process of reapposition of the dislocated retina, the cloud, which obscures the patient’s sight and covers some section of the sphere of vision, becomes less and less pronounced and is ultimately eliminated altogether. This takes place, even if the opaqueness affects the sight to such a degree that, for instance, the sun is seen only indistinctly or seems to be completely covered by a cloud. I have already mentioned that the diseased retina is able to recover and that its damaged fibres can revive. When the folds of the detached retina are smoothed out, the cloudiness hanging over the sight disappears and the result is that the floating clouds no longer annoy the patient, because nothing intrudes now between the eye and the objects looked at and no dark spots prevent the object from being seen in its whole extent. The effect of the treatment is that the patient sees again the entire body of a person and no part is missing, such as the legs or the head, as the case may be. As a result of the stimulation of the retina, all disturbances in the sense of colour can be eliminated. As explained in the general section on light-therapy, the eyesight of the patient can be preserved and considerably improved, and near and distant vision are brought to the highest possible level of efficiency. The results achieved are permanent and not temporary.
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Post by RamOn on Jun 22, 2005 14:59:30 GMT -5
IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE OF TREATMENT An important principle in the treatment of any kind of retinal detachment is the treatment of the retina in its whole extent. How essential it is to treat the entire retina along the lines of the non-surgical therapy and not only to reattach the dislocated retinal part to the underlying choroid by means of an operation can be deducted from the following circumstance: No sharp line of demarcation can be drawn between the field which is seen and that which is not seen. This phenomenon arises from the fact that, although the sections of the retina which border on the detached part are not yet detached themselves, they are already injuriously affected by the neighbouring detachment, as is shown by their diminished functional efficiency. This proves how important it is to strengthen the retina in its whole extent. Instead of resorting to operative measures which refer only to the detached part of the retina or to rents and holes in its tissues, one must apply measures which fill the retina cells with new life and energize their functions. For that reason it is absolutely necessary to subject the whole retina membrane to the reviving influence of the light-therapy. Orthodox treatment which consists in operations holds out no hope of success, because surgical action is based only on dealing with the detached area and not with the undetached surroundings nor with the tissue changes to which the functional deterioration is due. In order to preserve the visual ability, all the healing factors of non-operative therapy must be instituted so as to keep the yellow spot of the retina and its immediate neighbourhood intact and thus to make reading and near work possible.
TECHNIQUE OF LIGHT-TREATMENT IN DETACHMENT OF THE RETINA I will now give a general survey of the technique of light-treatment which I administer in the non-operative treatment in order to attain the reapposition and regeneration of the detached retina and the recovery of the eyesight. Colour-Combination. I give first alternately one day blue, the next day red light, followed by an administration of concentrated white light. ‘In cases of longer standing I find the combination of yellow and red light-rays and sub sequent irradiations with concentrated white light most useful. As far as colour-combinations are concerned; further indications are given on p. 48.
Time of Exposure to Coloured Light. Each sitting of phototherapeutic application takes from three to 12 minutes. Time of Exposure to Concentrated White Light. The time varies from two to six minutes. An important principle is that in detachment of the retina several short exposures to concentrated white light prove more effective than one longer exposure. For the intensification of the therapeutical effect I, therefore, adopt the following special procedure: After each exposure of one minute’s duration I interrupt the irradiation for one minute. On the first and second day the time of exposure is two minutes; on the third, fourth and fifth day, three minutes; from the sixth to the tenth day, four minutes; from the eleventh to the fifteenth day, five minutes; and after that, six minutes. Distance from the Light-Source. The distance of the diseased eye from the light-source varies from two to five feet. First Response. The first response makes itself notice able after one week and sometimes even earlier. Colour-Therapy in Darkened Room. To get the exact healing effect of each particular colour-tone, I regard it as essential to darken the treatment room and thus to exclude all those light-waves which are undesired during the administration of colour-therapy. Length of Treatment. In cases of fresh detachment the length of treatment is from two to four weeks; in pro gressed cases and cases of longer standing from five to six weeks. The average time is from three to five weeks. According to the condition of the detached retina, ‘the number of treatments is from 12 to 30. Advantage of Light-Treatment. It is a special advantage of light-therapy that no hospital treatment is required and that the patient is not confined to his bed or room.
HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT In cases of detachment of the retina it would be a great mistake not to let the patient have the benefit of homeopathy, as it can be effectively employed to cope with the disease process. There can be no doubt that homeopathic medication helps to strengthen and revive the retina cells and put the body into the best possible working order. On p. 82 I enumerate a number of remedies which have proved useful in combating the disease manifestations in the retina. In detachment which is due to an accident homeopathic treatment facilitates the active regeneration of the detached area and shortens the time necessary for the cell and tissue restoration of the retina. The application of arnica, calendula and hypericum is especially advisable in such cases.
CONSTITUTIONAL TREATMENT As to the general measures which have to deal with all anomalies of the system, it is a good plan to include in the constitutional healing factors also the cultivation of a proper mental hygiene. This procedure is helpful in supporting the healing process initiated by light-therapy and laying a firm foundation on which to build up the health of the weakened and damaged retina. It is the simultaneous application of local and general measures adjusted to the necessities of each individual case which provides a national basis for the reapposition of the detached retina and the recovery and preservation of the eyesight. It makes the operative intervention for the closure of the retina holes superfluous, as they certainly can heal, just as any other wound, by a natural process of cicatrization of their margins. In a large number of cases the combined healing programme (see combination-therapy) has succeeded in achieving a far-reaching anatomical and functional restoration. -
Résume WHAT THE NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF DETACHMENT OF THE RETINA HAS TAUGHT ME The conclusions which my non-operative treatment, carried out over a period of oven three decades, led me to arrive at are: (1) An eye afflicted with detachment of the retina need not be subjected to crippling operations and post operative complications (see p. 8). This refers especially to detachment due to short sight. (2) I am merely stating well-known facts which no eye surgeon can declare to be incorrect, when I say that the operative treatment fails to be successful. And even when, exceptionally, the retina becomes reattached, the success is only transitory, because the detachment recurs. No matter with what surgical skill and dexterity modern operations are performed, the results are most unsatisfactory, because no eye operation eliminates the cause of the detachment and, what is still worse for the patient, no operation forestalls a relapse of the disease and a repetition of the surgical intervention. Further more, no operation improves or restores the eyesight, and, last but not least, it does not prevent the other eye from sustaining a detachment of the retina, too. (3) As to the curative effects of my non-surgical method, I have invariably found that the detached retina is not only amenable to light-treatment, but also capable of fan-reaching restoration of its damaged tissue even in a progressed stage of the disease. (4) Another point which is of greatest importance to the patient is that hand in hand with the organic improvement of the retina tissue goes the visual improvement of the affected eye. No other method can attain an enlargement of the visual field. (5) When the cells of the retina are damaged by the process of detachment, they are not dead, but, so to speak, in a more or less dormant condition. The devitalized retina cells and their functions can be toned up and reawakened by light-therapeutic measures. If affected, the macula or yellow spot of the retina can recover organically and functionally. The organic restoration of the entire visual apparatus is most obvious and the visual improvement by non-operative therapy is quick and striking. (7) The results of non-operative measures of treatment are far superior to those obtained by surgical operations which are unsuccessful and dangerous. (8) In contrast to surgical interference, the non- operative treatment advocated in this book does not entail the slightest danger or discomfort and offers the best chance of healing the retinal detachment without operation. About the harmlessness and the advantages of non- operative eye treatment I speak in the chapters beginning on pp. 221 and 227.
PART XII LIGHT-TREATMENT (Special Part) Squint Its Significance and Non-operative Treatment TWO FORMS OF SQUINT Squint is a condition where the two eyes are not pointing in the same direction. As far as the faulty eye position is concerned, there are two forms: a non-paralytic and a paralytic squint. The former is brought about by muscular overaction and the latter by muscular paralysis. Both forms make it impossible for one eye to maintain its normal position in relation to the other and result from a disturbance of the muscular balance.
HOW DOES SQUINT COME ABOUT? The normal or the abnormal position of the eye depends upon the balance or the unbalance of twelve eye muscles which are situated on the outside of the eyeballs. If one muscle group is overactive, while the corresponding muscle group is weakened on unable to function at all, the eyeball deviates in the direction of the stronger muscle pull. Hand in hand with the deviation of the squinting eye goes a progressive deterioration of vision.
CONSEQUENCES OF SQUINT The consequences arising from a deviation of the eyeball are, firstly, a great impairment of the visual function; secondly, an obvious disfigurement of eye and face; and, thirdly, a muscular, nervous and mental strain. Squint means a great handicap and causes a great deal of unhappiness. It is a source of serious anxiety to parents.
PART XIV LIGHT-TREATMENT (Special Part) So-called Incurable Cases of Eye Diseases WHY I SELECTED LIGHT-THERAPY When we look at the natural sources of health, it is especially the light and warmth of the sun which increases the health and strength of the organism. As in the treatment of eye diseases the sun is not always available and, in addition, not always suitable, it was the thought of the health-giving power of light which induced me to look for other sources of light-energy which might be employed with advantage in the treatment of eye diseases.
HOW I EVOLVED MY SYSTEM OF LIGHT-TREATMENT In order to learn all I could about the subject, I worked as a young physician in an institute for light-therapy where general complaints were treated by various light-therapeutical and electro-physical measures. What especially struck me was the good response and the satisfactory results obtained by such treatments. It was due to this circumstance that I became greatly interested in light-therapy and its possibilities and felt that the eyes also might favourably respond to some form of light. As, however, no institute existed which specialized in the light- treatment of eye diseases, I started experiments mainly on my own eyes to find out the light-sources best suitable for the visual organ. So I evolved by degrees my special system of curative therapy and was most gratified to notice that the eyes actually did respond to various light-therapeutic measures.
TWO OUTSTANDING OBSERVATIONS When I review my long practical experiences, there are two outstanding observations: firstly, that one can success fully treat cataract, glaucoma, detachment of the retina, and squint without operation, and, secondly, that fan- progressed degenerative conditions and visual defects are amenable also to a process of regeneration. This refers not only to the above-mentioned diseases but also to all other disease processes of the eyes except malignant tumours.
IMPORTANT CONCLUSIONS During the treatment of all kinds of eye diseases I arrived at the following important conclusions: When, according to repeated ophthalmological examinations, in cases of advanced glaucoma, detachment of the retina, retinitis pigmentosa, optic atrophy, macula degeneration, etc., the eyesight is improved and a greatly contracted visual field becomes enlarged after a short time of treatment, the only logical conclusion to be drawn from this is that there must have taken place some functional and organic regeneration, as in such serious diseases no improvement of function is possible without corresponding organic changes for the better. This claim is justified and cannot be refuted; for it can be proved to be correct by the so-called perimeter test which gives tangible graphic evidence of the result obtained. A further very essential conclusion shown by the improvement of the sight and field of vision is that the cells, which are most seriously affected in the above diseases, are revived, because they are not dead, but only in a dormant condition. They can functionally and organically recover from this condition when the night countermeasures indicated in this book are taken. This is a fact worthy of attention. As fan as my experience goes, this cell revival is possible even in cases of long standing. To the question why eye surgeons do not know that tissue damage in the diseased visual organ can be made amenable to a process of regeneration by light-therapy, I reply that they have not appropriate curative measures at their disposal and are too prejudiced to try unorthodox methods of treatment. This may sound incredible to the reader, but it is, unfortunately, a fact.
TWO KINDS OF PATIENTS As regards the chances of success, clinical observations reveal an interesting fact. They show that there are two kinds of patients who react quite differently to the same measures of treatment, no matter what the disease case may be. Firstly, there is the group of patients who are by nature positive and optimistic, and, secondly, the group of patients who are inclined to take a pessimistic view of things. The optimists invariably show a better and quicker response, whereas the pessimists react more slowly or not at all.
WHAT DIFFERENCE IS THERE IN THE HEALING PROCESS BETWEEN A NEGATIVE AND A POSITIVE STATE OF MIND? It is a well-known medical experience that in serious disease conditions those patients who are resolute and of a positive and more optimistic nature manifest a greater power of resistance and a quicker recovery than those who are full of doubt and entirely negative and pessimistic. The skeptical patient lacks the necessary resiliency and determination to get well and misdirects and wastes all energy by doubting the possibility of improvement or cure and constantly dwelling upon the consequences which might arise from the disease process, whereas the hopeful patient turns his thoughts and energies into proper channels and puts them to the best use, thus accelerating the rate of progress and recovery.
TWO CAUSES OF FAILURE ON THE PART OF THE PATIENT The patient has, of course, no knowledge of the fact that eye cells damaged by disease processes can be revived by right methods of treatment. What is his reaction when the specialist whom he consults tells him that he cannot do anything to relieve his condition? Naturally, he accepts this as a fact and, according to temperament, is more or less depressed and discouraged. The acceptance of the incurability of his trouble results in one supreme cause of failure on the part of the patient, and that is his hopelessness, despondency and inactivity which is brought about by the surgeon’s verdict and prevents him from taking countermeasures. Or when he takes them, his negative frame of mind acts as a brake and checks his energy, initiative and activity. There is not the powerful driving force of an optimistic habit behind him which fans the fighting spirit and energizes the will to get well. This is due to the lack of faith, which the specialist’s verdict has brought with it, and is the second important cause of failure.
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Post by RamOn on Jun 22, 2005 15:00:34 GMT -5
WHAT THE PATIENT DOES NOT KNOW The patient who is overwhelmed by his tragedy and whose power of action is undermined by the eye surgeon does not know that by a different approach many apparently hopeless cases can be made amenable to the therapeutic stimulus of the combination-treatment which I advocate. He just believes in the absolute authority of orthodox ophthalmology and is, unfortunately, unaware of the fact that the official methods of treatment which eye specialists apply are entirely antiquated, because they have largely remained on the same level for nearly a century (see p. 24). Glasses, drug instillations and operations are still the exclusive therapeutic measures, and the only changes that have taken place are variations in surgical technique which, for the reasons given in former chapters, are likewise unsuccessful (see, for instance, the chapter about detachment of the retina on p. 154). All the operative failures and the patient’s disappointments are due to the exclusive concentration of eye specialists on surgical procedures and scientific problems of a more theoretical nature, which have not benefited the patient in the least. In contrast to this, I have, from the beginning of my medical career, concentrated my efforts mainly on evolving a combined therapeutical system based on the application of all modern, suitable healing factors and the development of effective apparatuses for radiation-therapy.
ELIMINATION OF A VICIOUS CIRCLE The institution of the combination-treatment which I outline on p. 88 has the welcome effect of eliminating the vicious circle which results, on the one hand, from the patient’s erroneous belief that there is no further hope for him after eye surgeons regard him as incurable, and, on the other hand, from the lack of faith caused thereby. Unfortunately, in a number of cases, it is hard for the patient to get over the shock of the surgeon’s verdict, and he remains under its paralyzing influence to his great detriment. The more disheartened he is, the more weakened is his initiative and fighting spirit and the more pronounced becomes his physical and mental suffering.
RESULT OF FEAR AND WORRY Fear and worry strangle courage and kill hope. They are a useless waste of vitality and limit or make impossible any achievement, as they deplete the patient’s strength and are a constant leak which drains away all power of healing as well as all energy of resistance. If the patient wants to overcome the misery and unhappiness of his existence, he must become active and do things in the right direction. He must put up a fight and must not overlook the fact that the various remedies recommended in this book are based on a well-tested, scientific plan and can do a great deal of good, if they are properly selected and correctly applied. It cannot be overstressed that all pessimism and down hearted thoughts make the situation only much worse. It is indeed pathetic to see the harm done to the patient by the ineffectiveness of orthodox measures, and it is a sad thing to establish in his mind the wrong idea that each case which is incurable by orthodox measures must also be incurable by modern and improved healing procedures.
WHAT DO I MEAN BY SO-CALLED INCURABLE CASES? My long experience has proved to me that in many patients serious and far-progressed cases of eye diseases and eyesight defects need not remain incurable, as they are not unalterable, if they are subjected to the described combined therapy. That is why I speak of so-called incurable cases, as most of them are incurable only by the orthodox treatment of eye surgeons.
JUSTIFIED HOPE IN FAR-PROGRESSED AND SO-CALLED INCURABLE DISEASE CONDITIONS OF THE EYES If the treatment is based on the fundamental principles mentioned in the summary of the next chapter, there is justified hope of successful results in far-progressed and so-called incurable disease conditions. The encouraging results obtained justify the recommendation of local light- radiation, as in many so-called incurable cases there is a possibility and, often enough, a fair or good chance of restoring disabled eyes to health and vision. No patient suffering from an eye disease ought to go blind. This chance of restoration and recovery of vision is a sufficient reason why the scheme of treatment advocated in this book should be given a fair trial in every case of functional and organic eye trouble and why this method ought to be brought to the knowledge of every sufferer, as the healing measures applied are reliable and effective. The dynamic healing action of radiant energy of light can succeed in restoring useful vision even to eyes handicapped by great incapacity, in spite of structural changes and disorders caused by the disease process. Not until this beneficial method of non-operative treatment threw overboard antiquated therapeutic opinions and dared to break the chains of scientific dogma and to approach problems of treatment in a new, progressive way, was it possible to achieve marked successful results also in so-called incurable and hopeless cases. The system of non- operative treatment has fundamentally changed the mode of dealing with eye diseases by bringing local and constitutional therapy into close union. It is a comprehensive method which has considerably enhanced the chances of success and holds out a well-justified promise of eyesight improvement. It has brought hope to many who had abandoned it altogether. I shall never forget the happiness of patients who, after having been in the depth of despair, noticed the obvious visual improvement which had taken place after only a short treatment.
PREVENTION OF BLINDNESS AND POSSIBILITY OF HELP IN SO- CALLED INCURABLE CASES If I may summarize once more the main factors which are of paramount importance in any case of eye disease, and, of course, specially in so-called incurable cases, I should like to point out: (1) the powerful stimulus of light-treatment. (2) the increased healing tendency and vitality reached by local and constitutional measures. (3) the helpful cell stimulation by homeopathic medication. Long practical experience and clinical observation have taught me the following facts: (1) It is the beneficial effect of light-therapeutic measures which renders the revival of eye tissues possible, even if they are considerably affected by far-progressed disease states and the eyesight is lowered to a minimum and seriously threatened. (2) Correctly selected local and constitutional measures have the great advantage of developing or reawakening and reinforcing the curative and reactive forces which enable eye and body to make a successful reparative effort and to throw off organic and functional disorders in the visual organ. (3) Proper homeopathic medication, particularly in connection with the two previous curative factors, is of great use in eliminating the weakened condition of diseased eye cells and restoring their organic and physiological equilibrium. It is to the credit of the combined three curative factors mentioned above that most favourable healing conditions are established which pave the way for structural and visual renewal and recovery of the affected eye. I have seen many successful and satisfactory results in cases which could not derive any benefit from orthodox measures generally applied by eye surgeons and were so far progressed that most of these cases were regarded as hopeless and beyond the help of official treatment. It was the right combination of suitable non-operative remedies which are indicated in the following diseases which made it possible to bring about considerable alleviation and far-reaching eye sight improvement in the worst and most hopeless-looking cases. The good healing results achieved in these cases have taught me that there is no reason to regard advanced disease processes as incurable and beyond mending.
MEDICAL ANTAGONISM TO UNORTHODOX METHODS OF TREAT MENT Before I start with the discussion of the treatment of so-called incurable cases, I should like to mention a point which may be of interest to the reader. In this country many of my restored patients who had been suffering from so-called incurable diseases were puzzled why their recovery could not be brought to the knowledge of other sufferers through the medium of medical journals. The simple answer is that professional jealousy makes this impossible. Practical experience teaches that orthodox physicians and eye specialists are not amenable to therapeutical methods, if the healing effects, however successful and outstanding they may be, are the result of unorthodox and not officially taught measures. That is the state of affairs as it has existed and is still existing at present. As a matter of fact, orthodox eye surgeons entirely ignore everything that is unorthodox, and their antagonism goes so far that even any mention of case reports is prevented in official medical journals (see Epilogue, p. 233). This, however, does not prevent patients from seeking and finding the help which the non-operative method advocated in this book offers to sufferers from the most serious and apparently incurable eye diseases.
WHICH SO-CALLED INCURABLE DISEASES ARE AMENABLE TO THE METHOD DESCRIBED? I come now to the discussion of those disease processes which belong to the group of so-called incurable eye diseases, as, in accordance with the experience of eye specialists, orthodox treatment of these disease conditions is of no avail. For the reasons given and by the curative means indicated in each disease process, it is, as I have experienced, often enough possible to obtain not only satisfactory organic healing results, but, above all, also an increasing visual improvement and usefulness of the eyes in apparently hopeless cases. Many of those patients who were given up by their specialists, but did not give them selves up, found the help they were looking for in the system of healing advocated in this book. In the following I refer in particular to cases of retinitis pigmentosa, albuminuric and diabetic retinitis, optic atrophy, degeneration of the macula, keratoconus, opacities of the cornea, nystagmus, eye weakness or asthenopia, night-blindness, colour-blindness, and incurable cases of cataract, glaucoma, retinal detachment and squint.
Retinitis Pigmentosa WHY CANNOT EYE SPECIALISTS COPE WITH THE DISEASE PRO CESS OF RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA? Retinitis pigmentosa is a very serious disease condition of the eyes. Practical experience teaches that orthodox treatment is not in a position to influence the course of the morbid process going on in the retina. It does not succeed or even attempt to relieve or eliminate the most trouble some visual disturbances or to forestall the increasing loss of vision which takes place, unless the disease is combated by effective countermeasures. In this disastrous tendency to abolish the eyesight lies the seriousness of the disease. The answer to the question why orthodox eye specialists fail to stop or improve the diseased state of the eyes is that the approach to the underlying problems is not correct. The means applied are not sufficient to achieve any curative results whatsoever and, besides, just as in cataract, glaucoma and detachment of the retina, retinitis pigmentosa is officially regarded only as a local disease of the eyes without taking into consideration the constitutional background of the trouble. Quite different is the situation when the local and general therapeutic factors are instituted which I advocate in this book. According to my manifold experiences, the prospects of retinitis pigmentosa remain hopeless only as long as no effective steps are taken to repair and rebuild the tissue cells of the retina and to restore and reinforce their biological processes. I should like to lay special emphasis on the fact that, just as in glaucoma and detachment of the retina, another group of entirely incurable cases includes sufferers from paralytic squint, with which condition eye surgeons cannot deal successfully, as such cases are not amenable to their usual official treatment. In order to avoid repetitions, I ask the reader to turn back to the explanations on pp. 178-181. There I also give the reasons why non-operative treatment can succeed in eliminating the muscular deviation and the visual defect as well as the mental distress of the patient. The principles and the technique which is applied in the non-operative treatment of non-paralytic and paralytic squint are described on pp. 178, 183.
PART XV WHY THE TREATMENT IS NOT ONLY EFFECTIVE BUT ALSO PERFECTLY HARMLESS COMPLETE HARMLESSNESS OF THE TREATMENT The non-operative therapy outlined in this book puts the safety of the patient first and affords the widest margin of safety and freedom from danger and injury. The axiom which forms the basis of my therapy is to avoid measures which do harm or have any deleterious after-effect, and to apply only gentle means, which are effective and have been found of decided benefit for relieving and overcoming diseases in body and eye. To give the reader sufficient information and enlightenment regarding the harmlessness of all therapeutic measures applied, I am going to bring forward convincing arguments and established facts which conclusively demonstrate that no risk is involved with the employment of any course of action.
GUARANTEE OF SAFETY There are many factors which guarantee safety: (1) Experience of long medical practice. (2) Anatomical reasons. (3) Exclusion of dangerous light-sources. (4) Application of visible light-rays. (5) Slight intensity of light. (6) Biological fundamental law. (7) Individualization of dosage. (8) Opinion of patients.
1. Experience of Long Medical Practice Before I started to treat patients with different kinds of light, I had first to find out whether light-treatment could be employed without any harm. In order to test the therapeutical effects, I exposed my eyes daily from one to two hours to various light-rays for over a year, and not until I had convinced myself of their harmlessness and observed the beneficial reactions did I apply irradiations in cases of eye diseases. By so doing, I ascertained the fact that the light-rays applied did not have any injurious effect on the retina and optic nerve which constitute the most vital and the most delicate parts of the eye. The next problem which arose was the question how these sensitive eye structures would be affected by light-applications in cases of disease. Although I could not imagine how the light could possibly have any unfavourable effect, it goes without saying that from the very beginning I administered ray-treatment with the same meticulous care with which I had learned to conduct scientific experiments and clinical tests. As to the results, my medical practice has taught me the following facts: None of my patients has been any worse for it. On the contrary, all of them have derived considerable benefit. If we institute light-treatment in a case of retina trouble, such as hemorrhage, inflammation, detachment of the retina or retinitis pigmentosa, or in a case of disease which affects the optic nerve, this modern treatment has the effect of having the most favourable influence on the disease process in the interior of the eyeball. It consists not only in a standstill of the disease but also in a far-reaching improvement which soon sets in and results in a functional and organic restoration of the most sensitive parts of the visual organ. I do not refer to just a few isolated cases, but to a very large number of patients whom I have handled successfully during a period of over thirty years. Considering my practical observations, I have come to the definite conclusion that the treatment is perfectly free from any danger and there is no possibility of immediate or future harm. I have invariably found that spectacular successes are achieved in most diseases of the eye. Especially gratifying are the healing effects on the diseased retina and optic nerve. The circumstance that these delicate eye structures show beneficial results when they are affected by very serious disease processes proves conclusively that the treatment can never have any ill effect on the retina or optic nerve when less delicate parts of the eye are subjected to light-treatment. Radiation-therapy is, therefore, indicated, not only in most severe eye diseases with grave organic changes, but also in healthy eyes which show functional disorders and refractive errors, as the good results are most encouraging and, above all, the therapeutic procedures are perfectly harmless and can never produce any undesirable, injurious effects upon the eye.
2. Anatomical Reasons There are also anatomical reasons for the fact that the retina and optic nerve are not injuriously affected. To understand where the anatomy of the eye comes in, l should like to point out that Nature always protects vital parts of the body most carefully. When we look at the diagram on p. 8 we see that the retina and optic nerve are situated at the eyeground, where they are farthest from the surface of the eye and thus most protected. This protection is formed by the thick, gelatinous mass of the vitreous, by the firm substance of the lens, and in front by the cornea and sclera as well as by the eyelids. To get some idea how the warmth of a light-source diminishes when the rays pass through several layers, one has only to think of the reduced heating effect when the light of a high-powered, heat-producing electric bulb passes through a number of layers of glass. This is the effect which all the parts of the eye mentioned above have on the waves of light entering the eye. These refracting media and the eyelids constitute a natural protection of the sensitive posterior area of the eye. They filter out the infra red and ultra-violet rays of the sun and prevent them from doing any harm, and the same protective action takes place as far as artificial light-rays are concerned. So we see that, also for anatomical reasons, no ill effect can or does arise from the irradiation of the eyes.
3. Exclusion of Dangerous Light-sources Which rays are to be excluded? I do not use ultra violet and infra-red irradiations for my therapeutic purposes, because they may do damage to the eyes when applied in large doses. Nor do I utilize the local action of X-rays and radium rays in my treatment, as they have a harmful effect. Safety is the fundamental principle of the non-operative therapy. I refuse, therefore, to employ any measure which might unfavourably affect the tissues of the eye in general and the cornea as well as the lens, retina and optic nerve in particular. After the exclusion of these sources of radiant energy, I am in a position to apply light- therapeutic measures which involve no danger whatsoever and afford the greatest degree of safety. 4. Application of Visible Rays In contrast to the rays mentioned above, which are invisible, I prefer in my light-treatment the therapeutical application of luminous radiation. My absolute safety factor is the harmlessness of the rays of the visible spectrum. In my own practice I use only white and coloured rays which display specific beneficial actions and to which, above all, the eye is accustomed. No other sources of light are applied to its tissues, and the light- stimulus produces invariably the most favourable reactions. That is why my ray- and colour-therapy is always borne well.
5. Slight Intensity of Light I should like to point out that the intensity of the light applied is extremely slight. As a matter of fact, the strength of the radiant energy of the visible spectrum is very mild, as regards depth action and chemical effect, It calls forth the most pleasant and mainly indirect response upon the deeper-lying tissues. I lay special stress on this circumstance, because the small penetrative power of the administered light-rays and the mildness of the light- therapeutic measures are another important reason why every trace of irritation or ill-effect is absolutely prevented.
6. Biological Fundamental Law The guiding principle for therapeutic action forms the so-called Arndt’s law, which says: Small stimuli encourage vital activity, medium stimuli promote it, strong stimuli hinder it and very strong stimuli tend to stop and destroy vitality. If light-treatment is based on this fundamental biological law, it is, of course, impossible to provoke any undesired injurious reaction.
7. Individualization of Dosage We now come to the question of dosage. Arndt’s law has established fine gradations regarding the strength and effect of the light-stimulus and constitutes a great factor of safety. It goes without saying that the non-operative therapy employs only fine and medium stimuli. By so doing, the element of danger is altogether excluded. Arndt’s law shows how to stimulate and promote the inefficient and non-reacting eye and how to avoid any unfortunate and unexpected by-effect. From the practical standpoint, the rigid avoidance of strong stimuli and the possibility of regulating the dosage of light according to the necessities of the eyes makes the treatment perfectly safe, and this is a fact which is most reassuring to patient and physician. I may add that light-therapy is applied while the eyes are closed, and this is a further guarantee of safety. So we see that the non-operative therapy avoids with meticulous care any therapeutic factor which entails the slightest possibility of injury, and is most fastidious in the selection and dosage of its healing measures. 8. Opinion of Patients Up to now I have advanced the logical reasons why there is practically no possibility of any harm ensuing. Further more, I can state that, on the strength of my long-continued clinical observations and experiences, the treatment does not involve the slightest risk or harm. What is the opinion of the patients who have taken light-treatments? As far as my experience goes, which comprises a very large number of patients treated in the course of over three decades, the treatment has always been found to be of decided benefit. It makes itself felt from the beginning in a steady, uninterrupted betterment of the functional and organic condition of the eyes and has never any unpleasant reaction or deleterious after-effect. All patients are most enthusiastic about the beneficial effect of the radiation and the increasing well-being of the eyes. This is the reason why many feel a real longing for the light-application, which so obviously helps the eyes to get well and stay well. My method is not new, and it would not have reached the popularity which it has enjoyed for a long time if it had not accomplished quick and striking results, and if it had not been for the great degree of safety and the absolute absence of danger and harm, The satisfaction of the patient is the best and safest way to judge the value of this method and the harmlessness of the measures applied.
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Post by RamOn on Jun 22, 2005 15:01:39 GMT -5
ADVANTAGES OF NON-OPERATIVE EYE TREATMENT The advantages of my system of non-operative eye treatment are: (1) The absolute absence of danger. (2) The avoidance of excitement before the operation. (3) The avoidance of the eye operation. (4) The recovery of the entire visual apparatus. (5) The restoration of the eyesight. (6) The protection of the other eye. (7) The prevention of blindness. (8) The quick improvement and the lasting success.
1. Absolute Absence of Danger The absolute absence of any danger is, of course, an advantage which greatly speaks in favour of the method. The therapy advocated in this book is the result of scientific research work and clinical observation, It is a well-founded and well-tested system which averts blindness and saves the patient’s eye and vision. It avails itself of reliable remedial factors that, in the course of long practical application and methodical study, have turned out to be not only most effective but, above all, also entirely free from any risk.
2. Avoidance of Excitement Before an Operation It is a great relief for the patient not to have to undergo an eye operation. The non-operative treatment removes his dread of losing his eyesight and frees him from the justified anxiety and fear of the operation. The patient need not go through pain and discomfort and pass endless days in the hospital, deprived of ease of mind and body. He saves eye and eyesight without being operated upon and is spared all the excitement, worry, uneasiness and mental depression before an imminent surgical interference which is always viewed with dread. This dislike of an eye operation is all the more understandable, as operative failures and complications are a well-known fact. That is why the patient is haunted by the future prospect of an eye operation or by the fear of a repetition of the surgical intervention in those cases where already one or more operations had been performed without success.
3. Avoidance of the Eye Operation Non-operative therapy has to its credit notable healing results in the treatment of serious eye diseases, and has thus proved that there is no necessity for an eye operation which is of questionable value, since it does not eliminate the underlying causes. Why, then, subject the delicate visual organ to complicated and drastic surgical measures which have only a weakening effect and cripple the eyeball and which, above all, end in failure or at best bring merely temporary relief? The treatment of the eyes without operation is a harmless but very effective method which avoids tissue losses resulting from cutting out parts of the eye substance. What this method claims to accomplish is no empty promise. It is the outcome of long medical practice, and the healing effects referred to have been obtained time and again in a very great number of cases. The treatment does not confine the patient to his bed or to his room. It requires no stay in the hospital atmosphere and is carried through with a minimum of disturbance to his routine life. During the treatment he can, as a rule, go about his regular occupation as usual.
4. Recovery of the Entire Visual Apparatus According to my practical observations, the chances of recovering and preserving the sight are, generally speaking, very good. To sum up what light-treatment offers the patient, I can state: Firstly, by making surgical measures un necessary, it precludes the disappointment which arises from the fact that the operative visual results are bad and do not come up to the patient’s expectations. Secondly, the patient does not become an invalid and is not forced to interrupt his daily routine of duties, because, as a rule, his near and distant vision increases considerably and quickly and the enhanced functioning power of the eye enables him to carry on. Thirdly, when he starts the treatment after being disabled by the eye disease, he may soon again be in a position to resume his work. Fourthly, in a large percent age of cases the patient obtains not only a fairly satisfactory vision, but its recovery is good, useful and complete. The process of improvement becomes more and more pronounced. Fifthly, the patient increases his range and strength of vision to a remarkable degree and recovers the health of his eyes, so that he can enjoy life once more. He can again read without fear of overstraining the eyes; he can really see and take delight in Nature; he can indulge in theatre performances, books and all kinds of things which require efficient eyesight. He can again be a healthy, happy and active person. Sixthly, when suitable measures are applied, there is hope of considerable alleviation and far- reaching relief in the worst and most hopeless-looking cases which eye specialists regard as incurable by orthodox measures. The gratifying result is that the treatment does not only remove weakness and disability under which the visual organ was labouring, but it usually also restores the usefulness of the diseased eye and the comfort of the patient. The best criterion of the value of the non- operative treatment in any individual case of eye trouble is the quick and marked improvement of the eyesight and of the objective symptoms of the disease. This is due to the fact that the treatment very soon eliminates all harmful and disintegrating influences on the structures of the eye and initiates the reparative process in all sections involved in the state of disease. HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES USEFUL IN DISEASES OF THE RETINA Inflammatory and degenerative disease processes of the retina, such as retinitis (albuminuric, arteriosclerotic,
diabetic, hemorrhagic, pigmentosa, syphilitica), may require one of the following homeopathic remedies: Agaricus muscarius, Apis mellifica, Apocynum cannabinum, Arsenicum album Asa foetida, Aurum metallicum, Conium maculatum, Crotalus, Gelsemium sempervirens, Hamamelis virginica, Hyoscyamus niger, Kalium iodatum, Kalmia lati folia Naphthalinum, Plumbum metallicum, Mercurius subl imatus corrosivus, Phosphorus, Phytolacca decandra, Pulsatilla nigricans, Secale cornutum, Tartarus emeticus. One has, of course, to select the remedy according to the condition of the eye and the state of the bodily constitution.
HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES USEFUL IN VITREOUS OPACITIES AND HIEMORRHAGES I choose between Acidum fluoricum, Acidum nitricum, Arnica montana, Arsenicum iodatum, Baryta carbonica, Calcarea iodata, Carbo vegetabilis, Hamamelis virginica, Jodum, Kalium bichromicum, Kalium nitricum, Lachesis, Lycopodium clavatum, Naphthalinum, Phosphorus, Sulfur iodatum, Tabacum, Thuja occidentalis. I select the remedies for the purpose of readjusting the ocular and constitutional disorder.
HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES USEFUL IN IRITIS AND IRIDOCYCLITIS In acute, chronic, plastic, rheumatic, syphilitic, diabetic, gonorrhoeal, tuberculous iritis and iridocyclitis I have found useful Acidum benzoicum, Acidum nitricum, Aesculus hippocastanum, Apisinum, Arsenicum album, Asa foetida, Aurum metallicum, Belladonna, Bryonia alba, Causticum, Clematis erecta, Conium maculatum, Dulcamara, Euphrasia officinalis, Formica rufa, Hepar sulfuris calcareum, Kalium bichromicum, Kalium hydroiodicum, Lachesis, Ledum palustre, Lilium tigrinum, Lycopodium clavatum, Mercurius, Mercurius dulcis, Mercurius iodatus flavus, Mercurius solubilis, Mercurius sublimatus corrosivus, Mercurius nitrosus, Mercurius praecipitatus ruber, Mercurius salicylicus, Mercurius sulfuratus ruber, Nux vomica, Psorinum, Rhus toxicodendron, Silica, Spigelia anthelmintica, Thuya occidentalis, Zincum metallicum. In the various forms of iritis one has to choose a remedy which corresponds not only to the disease condition of the iris but also to constitutional requirements of the case.
HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES USEFUL IN DISEASES OF THE CONJUNCTIVA, SCLERA AND CORNEA In this group of diseases benefit may be derived from Acidum nitricum, Aethiops antimonalis, Antimonium crudum, Apis mellifica, Arnica montana, Arsenicum iodatum, Baryta iodata, Cinnabaris, Croton tiglium, Kalmia latifolia, Mercurius dulcis, Mercurius sublimatus corrosivus, Natrium muriaticum, Nux moschata, Phytolacca decandra, Psorinum, Pulsatilla nigricans, Rhus toxicodendron, Sepia, Sulfur, Thuja occidentalis, Aurum, Conium, Silica. To make the treatment of this group of eye diseases effective, one has to select homeopathic medicines also from the constitutional point of view.
HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES USEFUL IN NYSTAGMUS In this disease process I recommend Agaricus muscarius, Arsenicum album, Cicuta virosa, Ignatia amara, Jaborandi, Pulsatilla nigricans, Sulfur, Zincum. If in nystagmus one of the above-mentioned remedies or any other are chosen according to the local and general condition of the patient, one has to take into consideration the right potency of the remedy, because some patients react better to lower and others to higher or highest potencies.
HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES USEFUL IN EYE WEAKNESS OR ASTHENOPIA If selected according to the requirements of each case, the following medicines have proved useful: Acidum **********
allow the disease process in the lens to approach the stage of complete opaqueness without taking energetic preventative steps in time. The patient need not wait until, ultimately, his vision is obstructed and lost by opacities. I can state that, when the treatment was started before the lens fibres were destroyed, a permanent healing effect has been secured. Every progressive physician can easily convince himself of this fact by giving the method advocated in this book a fair trial. Incipient or not too far advanced cases of cataract can be completely cleared up by non-operative therapy. It is a very comforting circumstance that the healing measures applied have a most reviving effect on the lens and call forth the reactive and healing power of the human system. Therefore, the chances of success which this treatment offers are very favourable. I have treated many cataract patients, who came to me from a long distance, and have succeeded in clearing up the cloudiness of the lens in all stages of opaqueness and degeneration. The patient had not to wait long for an improvement. For very soon after the treatment began the disease process was checked, and an increased acuity of vision made its appearance in a striking manner. Generally speaking, the complete destruction of the lens cannot be altered. However, Nature gives a good example for non-surgical cure by absorbing the dead, liquefied lens substance in hyper-ripe cataract. I have seen a few cases of perfectly ripe and hyper-ripe cataract which could be successfully treated without operation. A number of such cases are on record. Although the absorption of a totally opaque and liquefied lens is a rare occurrence which can not be generalized, one can still draw the conclusion herefrom that cataract disappears in every stage without resort to operative measures if body and eye possess sufficient reactive power. The results achieved in cataract by the non-operative therapy are permanent and not only transitory. This is the result of my practical experience since 1914. After the end of the treatment I closely watched my patients for many years without finding any relapse. In contrast to eye surgeons, I regard the operative treatment as a method of last resort, to be used only when the degenerative process has progressed too far to be reversed by non-operative measures. As in immature cataract the operation undoubtedly involves special dangers and difficulties, it is always worth while to start the non-operative treatment in any case of unripe cataract and thus to give the eye a chance to recover without exposing it to post-operative complications, which irrefutably take place if the patient is operated upon at this stage of the disease. On the strength of medical observation, it unquestionably does not seem logical to require any further proof that a cataractous eye can actually get well without operation.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE EYESIGHT IN CATARACT That the effective countermeasures of the non-operative therapy achieve good results is seen in the quick response of the eye, as far as the eyesight disturbances are concerned. The disappearance of visual defects is the best proof for the effectiveness of the light-therapy, because all symptoms are caused by tissue deposits and optical irregularities in the lens. The visual improvement is due, firstly, to the increased circulation in the lens; secondly, to the greater absorption and elimination of the deposits connected herewith; thirdly, to the better nutrition of the lens substance; fourthly, to the recovery of the lens fibres which have not suffered too great damage. The stimulation of the fluid circulation in the lens prevents foreign matter from settling between the lens fibres and removes deposits in the lens substance. Thus, those factors are
5. Restoration of the Eyesight Radiation-treatment acts as a powerful stimulus and conveys a surplus of energy and vitality to all eye tissues. If one wants to satisfy the patient’s expectations, one must help him to regain his faculty of seeing by light-therapeutic measures. The improvement and restoration of the eyesight are prominent features of the treatment discussed in this book. Through careful treatment eyes and eyesight can be raised or brought back to a greatly improved or even high level of efficiency. By a different and better way of treating disease pro cesses in the eyeball and by a rational causative therapy one accomplishes results which come up to the expectations of the patient and are most obvious. Why, then, expose the eyes to surgical operations which disappoint the sufferer from eye diseases and do not improve the health of the eyes and the strength of the eyesight? The healing factors of my combination-therapy make an end to the martyrdom of physical disability and mental anguish and despair, by which those afflicted with serious eye diseases are troubled, and restore the well-being and efficiency of the eyes and body.
6. Protection of the Healthy Eye The non-operative therapy is far-reaching in its practical importance, also from two other points of view: Firstly, the simultaneous treatment of both eyes protects the healthy eye from being affected by the same disease and, secondly, it preserves and improves its vision. The protection of the healthy eye is all the more essential, as a great number of eye diseases tend to involve both eyes.
7. Prevention of Blindness The greatest asset of non-operative light- and ray- treatment is the fact that it excludes the danger of blindness. As far as the loss of vision is concerned, it is the progressing degeneration and destruction of vital nerve tissues which, unless checked and counteracted, so often end in blindness. When discussing the effects of light in glaucoma and detachment of the retina, I have already explained that it is just the salutary stimulation of the retina and optic nerve cells which forestalls further degenerative and destructive processes and, by reviving these cell elements, prevents blindness. When the retina and the optic nerve are stimulated and strengthened by local irradiation, and when local and general treatment brings about in eye and body the readjustments which each case requires, one excludes all disease-producing and tissue-destroying factors and stirs the organism to a great reparative and recuperative effort, which is followed by the restoration of the eyesight, the preservation of health of the visual organ and the prevention of blindness. 8. Quick Improvement and Lasting Success The superiority of the non-operative treatment is based on the almost instant response and lasting success and on the fact that the treatment avoids prolonged illness and obviates any relapses. As a result of the therapeutic measures, the patient enjoys improved vision and good health of his eyes, and eyes and eyesight get well and stay well, because the light enables greater tissue stability and lays a firm foundation for a permanent healing effect. The results achieved are bound to be lasting, as the treatment provides a rational basis for the all-round recovery of the eyes by this comprehensive programme which constitutes a bulwark against the existence and aggravation of the disease and against its recurrence. In contrast to this, operative therapy gives at best only temporary local relief. In my long medical practice I have convinced physicians, who came to me for treatment or sent me patients, of the value and safety of my method by healing most serious eye diseases and making eye operations unnecessary. Those physicians who underwent my treatment themselves proved that they, too, preferred non-operative measures to surgical intervention. There is no other way of treatment which gives the more progressive physician greater satisfaction and satisfies the patient more, as it restores his eyes and eye sight without the least danger and makes him a healthy, happy and efficient person.
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Post by RamOn on Jun 22, 2005 15:02:14 GMT -5
EPILOGUE In previous parts of the book I have shown why and by which healing factors it is possible to overcome the disease process in the eyes, to improve and restore the impaired eyesight and to avoid the dreaded eye operation. I have, furthermore, enumerated the great number of eye diseases, visual defects and subjective complaints which can be relieved and eliminated without any risk or danger (see pp. 184, 186), In conclusion, I should like to discuss a few more points. I have repeatedly pointed out that I have evolved and applied my non-operative method in over 30 years of medical experience. The reader might now raise the question why the eye specialists in this country have so far not adopted the curative therapy which I advocate. As a matter of fact, patients of mine — and especially those who, after an unsuccessful orthodox treatment, had derived great benefit from my own special system of healing could not understand why my method which can claim far- reaching successes in progressed disease states and in so-called incurable cases is not more widely known in the medical world. The explanation is very simple: No matter how good and satisfactory a curative result may be, it is entirely ignored by orthodox physicians. This is not just my personal opinion on the subject, but a fact which is borne out by practical experience. The opposition is so great that no publication of any case takes place by medical journals or any paper which has a medical adviser, if the results are achieved by an unorthodox physician who does not apply the officially taught methods. That is why in this country medical journals do not contain references to such case reports and why my method is not brought to the knowledge of orthodox eye specialists and general practitioners. This difficulty of making an effective method of healing known does not refer only to the unorthodox treatment of eye diseases. The same applies also to any other branch of medicine as long as the healing measures applied are not in accordance with the generally accepted orthodox views. There are, however, among orthodox physicians a few who are more progressive. I had this experience on the Continent where a number of physicians were in favour of my method and sent me patients for treatment. Also in this country some general practitioners have repeatedly recommended my non-operative therapy to patients, and even among orthodox eye specialists there are a few who, in cases where they had to admit that orthodox treatment could do no more, did not dissuade the patient from seeking my help when asked about their opinion. As regards the majority of orthodox eye surgeons, I am well aware of the fact that they are not and will not be inclined to repudiate their own operative methods in favour of my non-operative treatment of eye diseases. This is only too natural. How can it be different when they have been taught and trained to treat eye diseases, such as cataract, glaucoma, retinal detachment and squint by way of surgical operations? Although this book deals with all the questions and problems involved in a strictly objective and scientific manner, I am not surprised at the negative orthodox attitude, as my modern non-operative method, which, by the way, is entirely new to this country, is diametrically opposed in principle and method to the antiquated official views on which orthodox eye treatment is based. The opposition of eye specialists is all the more understandable, as it exposes obvious mistakes and errors of operative treatment of eye diseases. I should also not be astonished if orthodox physicians continued to ignore my non-operative treatment altogether, because it places them in an awkward position, and to dislike this is only human. But opposition cannot suppress a well-founded and well-tested successful method which has proved its value in a very large number of patients. It is human nature to resist new ideas. Examples of this attitude are the well - known opposition to local anesthesia, light-therapy, homeopathy, hypnosis, modern treatment of tuberculosis, etc., which, although nowadays generally accepted by physicians, were originally spurned and ignored. This was the case not only with medical discoveries, but also with technical inventions, such as the railway, the telephone, and so on. Experience shows that years and often decades may pass before an unorthodox method receives official recognition. I say official recognition, but this does not mean that, in the case of my own method, there is no recognition at all. For the sound instinct of the public has quickly recognized the significance of a curative treatment which benefits the eyes and improves the eyesight. The sufferer from an eye disease appreciates nothing more than the quick relief obtained and the avoidance of an eye operation. As my method is not generally known in this country, the patient can, of course, not expect to get from general practitioners and eye specialists any information about a method with which they are entirely unacquainted. No one who has not had a sufficiently long experience with all the healing measures of my curative treatment is in a position to give an unbiased and objective opinion. There are prejudiced physicians and eye specialists who do not want to be convinced. On principle they condemn or minimize everything that is new or different from their accustomed methods. They overlook the fundamental principle of modern therapeutics—namely, that the healing art is a science which rests on actual facts and long-standing experiences and not on preconceived opinions and theoretical grounds. In medicine the sole criterion by which a method can be judged is the therapeutic end-effect of the measures applied. Nothing counts but the successes achieved and the satisfaction of the patient. I have seen enough cases which show that operative treatment not only fails to remove the eye disease, but may often also aggravate the visual trouble or even destroy the sight altogether. Orthodox treatment of the eyes requires, therefore, an entire re-orientation, as regards the ways and means of dealing with eye diseases. The actual prejudices have to be dropped if the best interests of the patient are to be served. Although I know that orthodox eye specialists will not readily give up their old-established methods, however unsatisfactory their results may be com pared with those obtained by the non-operative therapy which I recommend, this book would, from the professional point of view, fulfil a special purpose, if my discussions gave at least the first impetus to such a re-orientation and reform of insufficient and antiquated orthodox methods of eye treatment. There is no other branch of medicine in which there is a more urgent need for better and more rational methods than in the official treatment of eye diseases. Even if orthodox eye surgeons were willing to take up my special method of non-operative eye treatment, a number of difficulties would first have to be overcome, as a perfectly new and different training would be required. I think I am in a position to judge the situation, as I myself had an orthodox medical training and know what time and methodical study it takes to acquire the necessary know ledge and practical experience, as far as the unorthodox methods of treatment to which I refer in the book are concerned. Unfortunately, none of the healing factors of my combination-therapy are included in the obligatory university study, and, in addition, according to his training. An orthodox eye specialist is accustomed to concentrate his attention exclusively on the eyes and not at the same time also on the constitutional background, the readjustment of which is an absolute necessity. After having advanced the reasons why my non-operative treatment is far more effective than surgical intervention, I conclude by saying that eye operations are the orthodox method of treatment, but neither a good nor a safe way to the visual recovery and lasting satisfaction of the patient. As I have tried to demonstrate, this satisfaction can be reached by the therapy advocated which not only relieves and removes the symptoms of the disease, but also eliminates its fundamental causes and thus makes a real. and permanent improvement and restoration of the eyes and the eyesight possible even in so-called incurable cases. Abundant experiences covering long years of medical practice and numerous instances of marked successes have substantiated the undeniable evidence that the non- operative treatment of eye diseases is the method of choice and proves of incalculable benefit to the well-being and health of the eyes. If in serious cases the right combination of the powerful remedies outlined in this book is chosen and applied, the period of disability and suffering is cut short and the patient can be enabled to lead again which is worth living and not marred by the constant fear of blindness, helplessness and dependence on others. *******************
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