It's amazing how quickly things are changing. A few years ago no one knew anything about the Internet. Cellular phones didn't exist, and we all used typewriters. The only toy that talked was Chatty Cathy--and for her to talk, you had to pull a string hanging out of her back.

Our health has also gone through some tremendous changes. But unlike all the technological changes that seem to spring up overnight, changes in health aren't apparent for about a generation or so.

If you had lived during the early 1900s, you probably wouldn't have known what a heart attack was. Virtually no one ever experienced one back then. And while doctors knew about cancer, they rarely saw an actual case of the disease. But thanks to diet and lifestyle changes that have occurred just since the 1950s, these two diseases have quickly become the killers of our day.

Now, thanks to more recent changes in our diet, we are seeing the early signs of another huge health problem. That problem is vision loss and blindness. The general public isn't being alerted to the problem because no one seems to know what's causing it. Even worse, no one seems to think there is a cure. No one, that is, except a handful of opthalmologists whose work may turn the tide on America's next epidemic.

Not Seeing is Believing

I think most people would agree that the gift of sight is one of our most precious possessions. Like many things in life, however, our sight is something we seem to take for granted. Only when our vision begins to deteriorate do we start to worry. That may be too late, as many people in our society are now beginning to find out--especially when the vision loss stems from age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

AMD is already the leading cause of blindness among the elderly in this country, accounting for more cases than diabetes and glaucoma combined. And the situation is even worse in the U.K. There, AMD now accounts for half of all blindness. In the U.S., 30 million people over age 65 will have AMD by the year 2025.

Until about ten years ago, AMD was virtually unheard of in anyone under 60 years old. Now it accounts for over 10 percent of all blindness in people under the age of 60. Researchers say that we will begin to see AMD problems in people as young as 30 years of age.

AMD involves a deterioration of the macula. The macula is a small, very sensitive area on the back inner portion your eye. Light passes through the lens of the eye and is focused on the macula. From there, the optic nerve sends visual signals directly to your brain. If your macula becomes damaged, you lose the central portion of your vision. You're not able to read fine print or focus on small details that, for instance, enable you to pick out a familiar face in a crowd.

Macular degeneration takes two forms. The most common, which occurs in 85 to 90 percent of all cases, is the dry form. Small blobs of fatty proteins are deposited in the macular region. These blobs block the small blood vessels feeding the macula, and choke-off the vital oxygen and nutrients that supply this portion of the eye.

The wet form of macular degeneration involves the invasion of new blood vessels into the macula. These new vessels leak fluid, which has no place to go. It remains in the eye until scar tissue forms, encapsulating the fluid and permanently damaging the fragile macula.

The Blind Treating the Blind

Conventional medicine doesn't know what causes AMD. Hereditary factors and smoking, while not considered to be the cause, are generally believed to increase the risk of developing the problem. But as far as treatment goes, conventional medicine has nothing to offer. Once someone suffers a loss of vision, the use of "low vision aids," (i.e. high-powered magnifiers and prisms) are the only help modern medicine can give.

In the rarer, wet form of AMD, lasers are often used in an attempt to stop new blood vessels from entering the macula. The prognosis is still grim, and rarely does this treatment halt the eventual destruction of the macular tissue.

Studies involving the new anti-angiogenesis cancer drugs are currently underway to see if these drugs might be of help. This is a logical step because such drugs are intended to slow or stop the body's development of the blood vessels that feed cancer cells. However, since shark cartilage is also anti-angiogenic, it seems that therapeutic doses (20 to 60 grams/day) of high-quality shark cartilage would have the desired effect without the risks or side effects of drugs. I'll be looking into this possibility and I'll let you know about any promising results.

Help, as Usual, from Alternative Medicine

While conventional medicine offers nothing at all when it comes to preventing or treating AMD, I've uncovered some effective natural therapies you should be aware of. First of all, however, you should be doing everything possible to prevent the problem from occurring in the first place. After all, we're talking about serious, permanent loss of vision, and eventual blindness.

I'm sure that AMD may have some hereditary basis, and smoking, with its associated free radical formation, might certainly play a role. Obviously, advancing age is a contributing factor, too. But these factors don't explain the rapidly increasing incidence of this affliction, or the progressively younger ages of those it affects. Such trends can be explained only by more widespread causes among the general population. I believe that the significant changes in our dietary habits and lifestyles over the past 30 years or so are the culprits. With the exception of areas where the people have refused to adopt modern diets and lifestyles, the occurrence of AMD is increasing all over the world.

Dr. Bob Thompson, chairman of the AMD Society in London, recently informed me about some important studies on this subject. Conducted in Japan and Italy, the studies confirm the importance of lifestyle and eating habits as factors in AMD. The researchers found that AMD is now a very common cause of blindness in urban Japan, but is extremely rare in distant Japanese fishing villages. Similarly, in the traditional town of Salandra, Italy, the incidence of AMD is only one-fourth the rate that prevails in the rest of Italy. Everywhere that traditional diets and lifestyles still prevail, the incidence of AMD appears to be lower.

Prevention is Always Best

I've written about AMD several times in the past, and have always considered it to be one of the most debilitating health problems of our time. And while the therapies I'll describe in a moment may make a cure possible in our lifetime, your best defense is to heed the following five warnings and recommendations in your daily life.

1. Don't take aspirin regularly. Be warned that the regular use of aspirin would be responsible for an increase of AMD and blindness in this country. If you take aspirin on a regular basis, be sure to read the article "Aspirin and Blindness" in the November 1988 issue of ALTERNATIVES.

2. Avoid drugs and fake fats. Also the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, fake fats, and the so-called "fat-blockers" being sold as diet aids. Each of these substances pulls essential fatty acids out of your body like a magnet, and leaves you more susceptible to developing AMD and the blindness that comes with it.

3. Eat eggs. The need for eggs in the diet and how the "egg scare," fueled by cholesterol misinformation, would create a dietary shortage of carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin. These substances are essential in the prevention of AMD.  Eat eggs regularly and as often as you want.

4. Eat a wide variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts, and seafood. These foods are all helpful in the prevention of AMD. Also, eliminate artificial sweeteners and minimize the amount of sugar and refined carbohydrates you eat. And don't forget to take plenty of flaxseed oil to help balance your essential fatty acids.

5. Take a high-quality multivitamin and mineral complex every day. A good daily supplement will supply you with antioxidants, fat-soluble vitamins, trace minerals, and many other components necessary for good vision and health.

But Here's What To Do if You Have AMD

Three doctors of optometry, Drs. Leland Michael, Ralph Zehner, and Merill Allen of the Indiana University School of Optometry, have been doing some amazing studies of AMD and a condition called retinitis pigmentosa, another disease involving vision loss and the deterioration of the retina. As with AMD, there is currently no recognized method of curing the problem or even slowing its progression. The doctors' current program involves the use of several nutritional supplements. Each patient received the following daily supplements (half in the morning and half in the evening).

(Retinitis pigmentosa patients received a different nutritional mix consisting of a multimineral and vitamin formula and 750 mg of taurine, 300 mg of bilberry, and 50 mg of zinc daily.)

In one study, 46 patients with AMD were placed on the supplement program for two years. Such patients' vision would normally deteriorate over that period of time, but these patients actually showed an improvement. When they were tested using an eye chart, they gained an amazing average of 8.5 letters of acuity per eye.

This research shows how important certain nutrients are to eye health. When I formulated Daily AdvantageTM a few years back, I purposely included maintenance dosages of many of these nutrients. Because so much new research has come forth on nutritional therapies for AMD, however, I recently started testing a more advanced supplement specifically for AMD and other eye problems. In addition to the nutrients listed above, it also includes the Triphala herb I reported on in January as well as an advanced form of the antioxidant lutein. I'll keep you updated on this formula over the next few issues of the newsletter.

A Perfect TENS for AMD Sufferers

In addition to the above nutrients, each of the patients was treated with micro-current electricity using a common Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator (TENS) device. The use of the TENS unit seemed to be one of the primary reasons for the dramatic improvements seen in these AMD patients.

The TENS units used in the study are standard units available by prescription through doctors of chiropractic, optometry, or medicine. They operate on 9 volts with an output 200 microamperes at 10 cycles per second (Hz). Each unit transmits electricity through two electrodes. For the study, one of the electrodes was held in the patient's wet hand and the other electrode gently placed on a closed wet eyelid. (When the unit is turned on, a slight flicker of the eyelid indicates that the electricity is reaching the retina.) If the TENS unit is to be used strictly for retinal stimulation, one of the electrode pads can be removed and the wire soldered to a small piece of copper tubing, which can then be held in the patient's hand.

Each eye is stimulated for a total of five minutes. The small electrode is first placed on the wet upper eyelid of one eye for 2.5 minutes, then the wet lower eyelid for 2.5 minutes. The process is repeated on the other eye. The TENS units were given to each patient to take home, and the best results seemed to occur when the eyes are treated several times a day. There were no adverse effects noted through the use of the nutrients or the TENS units. In fact, the patients found the treatment pleasurable.

Using a TENS unit to stimulate healing in the eye is not a widely accepted therapy. In fact, most doctors would probably recommend against it simply because it sounds unusual. However, other studies have shown that micro-current electricity provides several healing benefits. It improves blood flow to an area and enhances the transfer of ions across cell membranes. These effects could, in turn, help deliver nutrients to retinal tissue. One on the major problems with retinal injuries or disease is that increasing circulation to the area is very important, but also very difficult. Micro-current may be one of the few methods that can accomplish this important task.

In addition, micro-current therapy appears to enable two remarkable events in the eye. The first is retinal regeneration. One patient's retina had been surgically removed. After nine months of therapy, the retina had regenerated and 20/40 visual acuity had returned.

The second event is the regrowth of photoreceptors and nerve connections in the eye. This growth might require a year or more of treatment. Dr. Allen reported that one 80-year-old patient with AMD actually regained normal vision over a 12-year treatment period.

The Proof is in the Patients

Dr. Allen reports having helped several individuals with severe vision loss. Many of these people had even lost their ability to walk without assistance. On several occasions, the combination of nutritional therapy and micro-current therapy has reversed their conditions and allowed them to lead normal lives. Several people who were told to forget about driving a car and learn Braille now have driver's licenses and little or no vision problems at all. Most of these patients continue taking supplements and TENS therapy (at least twice daily), even after their conditions have improved. Some patients, such as the patient mentioned above, have been on the program for more than 12 years and have experienced nothing but positive results.

Based on Dr. Allen's reports, I have begun testing TENS units on a few individuals and the results have been all positive. The work of these doctors could turn out to be one of the more incredible discoveries of our time.

All of the nutritional supplements used in this study are readily available, and the wholesale price of a TENS unit like those used in the study is less than $150. If you have AMD or retinitis pigmentosa, and want to try this treatment, try to find a doctor to help monitor and guide you with this therapy. Although it is relatively foolproof,  having a doctor help you acquire a TENS unit and monitor your progress afterwards is a wise idea.

Standard TENS units are easy to come by, however, because they are used less frequently, there are fewer of the "micro-current" TENS units available. And not all of the micro-current TENS units have an output of 200 microamperes, the current used in these successful clinical studies. Your doctor should be able to find one from any of the dozens of companies that supply TENS units.

Dr. Allen told me that he is currently working on developing special electrode pads small enough to fit the eyes and also a special TENS unit with the proper settings for the eyes. Applications have also been filed with the FDA covering this unusual use of electro-therapy. Dr. Allen says he will be sending me one of his experimental prototype units for test purposes. I'll keep you posted on the results I get. Hopefully, a unit designed by Dr. Allen will be available to doctors in the near future.

In the meantime, doctors can order microcurrent TENS units from the following suppliers. Altoona Medical Supply sells the 804M micro-current model that can be set to put out 200 microamperes and 10 Hz. The doctor's price is just under $150. You can reach Altoona at 705 2nd Avenue SW, Altoona, Iowa 50009, 800-442-8367. TENS Super Source sells the model Micro-850 that is adjustable to 200 microamperes (but only 8 Hz) for $89. You can reach TENS Super Source at P.O. Box 9669, Midland, Texas 79708,