Re: AGEs

I know it is very frustrating and depressing. I myself can't see at night at all, and daytime vision is misty. But you say you can still drive a car, which is marvelous. Please be careful.
Can you tell me if your cataracts are colored? The reason I ask is because if they are yellow or red, the culprits are likely to be metabolites of the aminoacid tryptophan which is found in dairy products, mainly kynurenine and N-formyl kynurenine, which have a vivid red color. These molecules combine with lens proteins to form colored AGEs (chromophores), making the lens proteins absorb blue light and UV light which they would not otherwise do. When they absorb blue light or UV, they generate ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) which cross-link all the remaining lens proteins, making vision misty. So, the first change is yellowing of your vision due to the formation of the chromophores; the second change is misting of vision. The result is a yellow mist.
I have come to the conclusion that, surprisingly, bilberry and lutein make my vision worse. In most people, bilberry and lutein act as surrogate pigments, because they bear the brunt of blue light and UV irradiation, thus protecting the lens proteins. But as these natural pigments also accumulate in the lens, I can only guess that, on top of the tryptophan metabolites, they are making my vision even more yellow, because they allow even less blue light to get through, and since they also generate ROS when they absorb that blue light, they are making my vision even more misty.
Therefore, I decided to try the following strategy:
1) Consume turmeric in curries, etc., on a regular basis, to block the degradation of tryptophan to its colored metabolites, kynurenine and N-formyl kynurenine,
2) Consume vitamin E and/or alpha-lipoic acid to "mop up" the ROS generated in the lens from the colored metabolites which are already there.
As to your question, does withholding a cure for cataract constitute a violation of human rights? In view of the refusal of the eye profession to explore, and implement, non-surgical solutions such as phototherapy and eyedrops (e.g., C-KAD), which were successfully trialed in the past - thereby forcing us to undergo surgery without even giving us the chance to try alternatives which could have made sufficient improvement to avert it - I believe the answer is clearly a resounding, "YES!" - WITHOUT A SHRED OF DOUBT.
But, if you can still see more than I - you can drive a car - you have lots of hope. Let's all look for safer eyedrops containing rosmarinic acid, or mint. Or, demand that such eyedrops be made available, now.
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