Re: I have a cataract - Blergh..

The retina of the eye is constantly bathed in vitamin C, at levels much higher than those normally found in the blood.

some reading from the vit c foundation
http://vitamincfoundation.org/stone/ch17-22/chap17-22.htm#C20



Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in this country. They occur when the chemical composition of the crystalline lens changes, making it opaque rather than transparent. When cataracts form, the only way to restore sight is to remove the afflicted lens. In the majority of cases, cataracts appear to be part of the aging process. Uveitis (inflammation of the eye) and physical and chemical injury are other causes.



Let us discuss these authoritative statements individually:



1. That cataract is now the leading cause of blindness there is no argument -- but need it be? The proper long-term use of ascorbic acid may have a profound effect in reducing the incidence of this condition and preventing blindness.



2. Changes in the chemical composition of the lens makes it opaque -- correct, no argument. But what is the chemical composition of the lens? It is made from a specially oriented helical protein (7). Dische and Zil (8), in 1951, start their paper, "The most striking chemical change in the lens during the cataractous process is the decrease in sulfhydryl groups." Sulfhydryl groups, like ascorbic acid, are strong, normally occurring reducing agents, and are destroyed by oxidative processes. Possibly, the high levels of ascorbic acid found in the normal eye are there to protect against the loss of these sulfhydryl groups by oxidation. Studies in India (9), from 1963 to 1969, where senile cataract is rampant, occurs at an early age, and matures more quickly, show that cataractous eyes have a much lower content of ascorbic acid than normal eyes. One of these papers (Nema and Srivastava) suggests that the chronically low ascorbic acid content may be responsible for the high incidence of senile cataract.



3. When cataracts form, the only way to restore sight is to remove the afflicted lens -- right and wrong. This is the opinion of many present-day ophthalmologist. While some research shows that it is possible to slow down the cataractous process, no work could be found which would indicate that the proper use of ascorbic acid has been tried to reverse the cataractous process.



4. In the majority of cases, cataracts appear to be part of the aging process -- right. But let us do something about this by inhibiting aging (see Chapter 18).



5. Uveitid and physical and chemical injury are other causes -- right. All these stresses reduce the ascorbic acid levels in the eye. The 1941 paper f Lyle and McLan of the Royal Air Force on corneal inflammations should not be ignored. They stated:



Treatment by means of ascorbic acid intravenously is of therapeutic value. The improvement in most cases is almost dramatic. In most cases there is no reason to believe that a general vitamin C deficiency exists. It appears, therefore, that the beneficial results are obtained by flooding the bloodstream with excess of ascorbic acid.



This work was confirmed by Summers in 1946. The profound effects of ascorbic acid on the healing of deep corneal ulcers caused Boyd and Campbell, in 1950, to state and recommend, "We therefore suggest that ascorbic acid, in such massive doses as 1.5 grams daily, has a value in therapy apart from its normal role as a vitamin at accepted levels of intake." The additional work of Campbell and coworkers, in 1950, and Boyd, in 1955, on experimental eye burns, supplies additional confirmation for the need for adequate levels of ascorbic acid in the eye for recovery from heat injury 10).



The answers to this discussion of cataracts seem to be supplied by ascorbic acid. Are they not sufficiently suggestive to warrant further research and investigation?



The literature cited in this discussion of cataracts is but a small fraction of the total which has been published on ascorbic acid and the eye since the early 1930s. To thoroughly review this voluminous work is beyond the scope of a short monograph. We have to omit the work done on experimental diabetic cataracts, naphthalene cataracts, and dinitrophenol cataracts. But before closing this chapter, let us consider only four of the papers on senile cataract.



As long ago as 1939, Muhlmann and corworkers (11), in the Argentine, obtained 90 percent good results in sixty patients with 113 incipient senile cataracts by 2 series of daily injections, for ten days each, of 50 to 100 milligrams of ascorbic acid. He concluded that the treatment had no contraindications, should be tried in all incipient cases, and is more effective the earlier it is used.



In another 1939 paper, "Vitamin C and the Aging Eye," Bouton (11) of Detroit found "ascorbic acid deficiency can be held partly responsible for impairment of vision associated with senescence of the human eye and that the administration of ascorbic acid by mouth can counteract this process." He gave 350 milligrams of ascorbic acid a day for four to eight weeks and obtained improvement in vision in 60 percent of the treated group; marked improvement usually set in within the first two weeks of treatment. He believed that cataracts already formed were not affected and the benefits obtained were due to clearing of the other optic media and to some degree to a beneficial effect on the retinal vessels and the head of the optic nerve. While 350 milligrams of ascorbic acid a day was considered a huge dose in 1939, the administration of multigram daily levels would have obtained even better results.



Atkinson, an ophthalmologist of more than thirty years' experience, published in 1952, a scholarly paper on the senile cataract (11). He stated,"...in a larger percentage of cases than most surgeons have realized , cataract is a preventable disease." In 1952 he had over 450 cases of incipient cataract under his treatment which included, among other dietary suggestions, the administration of about 1 gram of ascorbic acid a day. He noted that untreated incipient cataracts matured in four years or less, some taking only one year, Of his over 450 patients under prophylaxis, only a limited number matured and went to surgery, whereas formerly nearly all had to submit to surgery. He states that in a number of his patients the cataracts have remained incipient over a period of eleven years.



The promising leads relating to ascorbic acid cited above, have not been picked up or been the subject of intensive research in an effort to help prevent this annual plague of blindness. Why? A search of the government bulletin (6) entitled, "Research Profile -- Summary of Progress in Eye Disorders," discussed before, fails to reveal a single mention of ascorbic acid in its 16 pages. This indicates that no research on the use of ascorbic acid for the prevention of blindness is being conducted at the National Institutes of Health or the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness. The same situation probably exists in the research facilities of the many publicly supported charitable foundations for the blind.



Most of the investigators using ascorbic acid in the treatment of eye pathology employed it orally or by injection. It is also possible to use it as a solution of sodium ascorbate applied topically. This is especially effective when the topical application is done iontophoretically. This method uses a harmless mild electric current to force the ascorbate into the eye tissues. As pointed out by Erlanger (12), in 1954, after many years of research, iontophoresis is another neglected principle of therapy which should find much wider use in the treatment of eye diseases. Topical megascoric therapy and iontophoresis should be a most valuable combination.



Retinal Detachment



Another area for eye research is in retinal detachments. A 1964 paper by Weber and Wilson (12) showed that the ascorbic acid levels in the subretinal fluid decreased with the length of time of the retinal detachments. Possibly, individuals on high levels of ascorbic acid would have less chance of suffering retinal detachment. The research on this condition could be combined with the above suggested tests on glaucoma and cataracts to determine whether the prophylactic daily dosage of 3 to 5 grams of ascorbic acid would also reduce the incidence of retinal detachments.