Ординатура / Офтальмология / Английские материалы / Relearning To See_Quackenbush_2000

Glaucoma is a serious disease of the eyes. In most cases, the eyeball becomes hard For the relief of this hardness, various operations have been performed to promote the escape of the fluids of the eyes. These operations have not always been satisfactory. Many cases of glaucoma have been relieved for a limited period of time, but sooner or later, become totally blind. When blindness occurs, operations have usually failed to restore the sight.

Cause: The theory that the disease is caused by a hardening of the eyeball is incorrect, because we find cases of glaucoma in which the eyeball is not increased in hardness, and there are cases of hardening of the eyeball in which there is no glaucoma. The normal eye may be hardened temporarily by conscious eyestrain.

There are case histories of "spontaneous remissions" of people who had glaucoma. One such "spontaneous remission" Occurred with the sister of one of my students.

References and/or case histories of glaucoma improvement can be found in the following Better Eyesight magazines: July 1920, December 1920, January 1924, July 1927, September 1927, January 1928. The entire December 1920 issue is dedicated to the topic of glaucoma, and includes several case histories.

Ophthalmologist R. S. Agarwal in Mind and Vision gives several case histories of improvement of glaucoma.9

Clara Hackett writes in Relax and See:

Forty of my recent students have had glaucoma. Of these, 11 gained greater field of vision and increased sight; 18 had a lowering of tension according to their doctors; 11 had no great lasting improvement, although 5 do report less pain and discomfort.10

An 83-year-old student told me one year after the vision course that she no longer had glaucoma and her ophthalmologist had taken her off of the glaucoma medication she previously needed.

Another student had his glaucoma pressure checked by his ophthalmologist at the end of the eight-week natural vision course. His eye doctor told him glaucoma pressure had lowered.

DETACHED RETINA

In humans, the ends of the cones and rods are not attached to the pigment epithelium very securely. With continuous strain placed on the retina by an "out of shape" eyeball and/or an accident or blow to the head, the upper nine layers of the retina can tear, or even detach. "Detached retina" can cause serious vision loss.

Oftentimes boxers experience detached retinas due to the many traumatic blows received to the head and eyes.

When the front third of a cow's eye, along with the vitreous humor, is removed, the retina easily "detaches" from the choroid. The retina then remains attached to the back of the eye only at the optic nerve.

Optometrist Bruce May states in his pamphlet Rx for Nearsightedness—Stress-

Relieving Lenses:

A Worthwhile Concern ... Most of the major causes of blindness (except a disease called diabetic retinopathy) seem to relate directly to increased inner eye or vitreous pressure, which is a common factor in myopia. Two-thirds of those persons who suffer detached retinas are myopic. The average age for retinal detachment for those myopes experiencing this problem is 29, while the comparable age for farsighted

[individuals] is 62. There is real reason for

Ophthalmologist Charles H. May, M.D., writes in Diseases of the Eye:

When [detached retina is] due to disease, it is most often found in myopia of high degree... Unless the retina can be reat­ tached by operation, the detachment gen­ erally extends, becomes complete and

blindness results, though rare cases of spon­ taneous reattachment as well as stationary cases do occur.12

A guest at one of my Introductory Lec­ tures had a very high degree of nearsight­ edness. His ophthalmologist told him he had no signs of detached retina—but that he would have it someday because of his very Ыф myopia.

I have met many people who have detached retina. Most of them had very high degrees of myopia.

A reference to and/or case history of detached retina can be found in the March

1921 Better Eyesight magazine.

CONICAL CORNEA (KERATOCONUS)

The conical cornea protrusion is due to a "thinning" of the cornea. Conical cornea is also known as keratoconus.

May, in Diseases of the Eye, states in regard to conical cornea, "It may be important to improve the general health."13

A reference to and/or cases histories of conical cornea can be found in the July 1920, May 1924, and September 1927 Better Eye­ sight magazines.

OPACITY OF THE CORNEA

Better Eyesight magazine, September 1927:

The cornea when healthy is perfectly trans­ parent and does not interfere with the vision of the colored part of the eye, or pupil, but when the cornea becomes opaque, the opacity may be so dense that the color of the iris cannot be distinguished, and there is no perception of light.

Cause: Opacities of the cornea are said to be caused by infections, ulcers or some general disease, but there are many cases which are caused by eyestrain....

A reference to and/or case history of corneal opacity can be found in the July 1920 and Sep­ tember 1927 Better Eyesight magazines.

Met Eyesight magazine, September 1927:

In conical cornea, the front part of the eye bulges forward and forms a cone-shaped body.The apex of the cone usually becomes the seat of an ulcer and sooner or later, the vision becomes very much impaired. In advanced cases, the person suffers very much from pain. Various operations have been performed, but the results have always been unsatisfactory.

Cause: The cause of conical cornea is eyestrain.

O T H E R N A T U R A L I M P R O V E M E N T S

References to and/or case histories of seri­ ous vision problems can be found in the fol­ lowing Better Eyesight magazines:

Iritis: January 1928

Retinitis pigmentosa: April 1920, July 1920, May 1921, June 1924, January 1928

Atrophy of the optic nerve: July 1920, Octo­ ber 1920, June 1924

Blindness: March 1921, June 1924, July 1924, September 1927

Clara Hackett writes in Relax and See:

Fifty-seven persons with retinitis pig­ mentosa have had lessons. Of these, only 2 achieved 20/20 or normal sight; however, 38 had their field of vision and acuity helped appreciably even to the extent of driving a car again; 17 had no lasting benefit.

Of 31 persons with progressive sight losses from such diseases as retinitis, con­ ical cornea, chorioretinitis, 10 have stopped the progression... One conical cornea case obtained 20/20 sight.

There have been worthwhile results in vision losses due to other serious prob­ lems....14

T H R E E C A S E H I S T O R I E S

TOLD то LEARN BRAILLE

Anna Kaye, a Natural Vision teacher trained by Clara Hackett, was told by four ophthal­ mologists to learn Braille. She had no use­ able vision due to atrophy of the optic nerves. She could not see a door, and no glasses gave her correction. When she moved from Europe to the US, she took vision lessons from Clara Hackett. In two and one-half years, she was seeing 20/30 without correc­ tive lenses At age seventy-five she still needed no corrective lenses. She had no restriction on her driver's license and could read small print without corrective lenses.

ALDOUS HUXLEY'S IMPROVEMENT

Author Aldous Huxley, due to a disease of his eyes, had critical eye problems as a teenager. For eighteen months he needed Braille to read and a guide to walk. "There is no doubt about it," he writes in his book, The

An of Seeing, "My capacity to see was steadily and quite rapidly failing."15

His wife Laura writes in the Foreword of his book:

... The Art of Seeing was Aldous' response to the fact that his sight was rapidly failing and that, in a matter of a short time, he would be blind. With an open mind he studied the Bates method which, still now especially in 1939, was unaccepted by the orthodox ophthalmologist. His eye­ sight and that of thousands of others was improved, even saved.16

BETSY'S TESTIMONIAL

May 13,1992

Dear Tom,

A note to thank you for continuing to do the work you're doing, and for making the monthly review classes available to us. It's great to hear others' stories.

I wanted to record for you what for me is a milestone this year. In 1983, a retinal hole with lattice degeneration was discov­ ered in my right eye, and also some periph­ eral retinal degeneration (without hole formation) in my left eye. Although at first the ophthalmologist was going to seal the hole with laser surgery, he decided to wait and monitor the condition instead. The con­ dition remained the same (but didn't worsen) for eight years.

In summer 1990,1 began studying nat­ ural vision improvement. In February 1992, I started seeing a new eye doctor, one who is open to discussing N.V.I, (whereas the other was not, so I stopped seeing him). The new guy also specializes in retinal pho­ tography.

His examination of my retinas, and our observations of the developed photos,

revealed no retinal holes or lattice degen-

erationlThey had self-healed. I know that the healing took place as a result of relearning to relax my eyes. I also firmly believe in self-healing, and that to be a big contribution.

The joys of using my own eyesight, and building on that, are endless. I emphasize what I can see, not what I cannot. The most comfortable pair [of glasses] is the weakest: R -4.50, L -3.75, and the astigmatism conection is gone.

It's a lifetime commitment. And it's fun! My whole outlook has changed: I have become a positive person—just knowing you have a choice about influencing your own vision makes a big difference in attitude. Measurable improvements are merely icing on the cake.

Thanks,

Betsy

Betsy attended the eight-week natural vision course from January to March 1991, and attended many Review classes after the course.

CHAPTER C O M M E N T S

TOM'S PERSONAL LOG: I have become highly motivated to improve my eyesight to avoid the possibility of serious eye problems in the future.

Bates associated mental strain with many serious vision problems. Many people who have serious vision problems are under very high stress, and have a tremendous staring habit. Also, many such people have worn compensating lenses for many years.

From the larger, holistic perspective, could "simple" errors of refraction be a warning to relax the mind and body? Do some of the

more serious vision problems result from ignoring the initial message of blurred vision?

Improvement of many serious eye problems has been experienced by many people who have attended natural vision classes.

There are many causes of serious eye problems. A person should seek the care of an ophthalmologist for any serious eye problems.

NOTES

1 Joseph J. Kennebeck, Why Eyeglasses are Harm-

ful for Children and Young People

Vantage Press, 1969), pp. 91-92.

2Mary Dudderidge, "New Light Upon Our Eyes: An Investigation Which May Result in Normal

Vision for All, Without Glasses," in Scientific

American (January 12,1918), p. 53.

3R. S. Agarwal, Mind and Vision (Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, 1983),

PP-56-57-

4 Clara A. Hackett and Lawrence Galton, Relax and See (London: Faber and Faber, Limited,

1957), PP-25-27.

5This quote is from a lecture given by Dr. Deborah Banker, M.D., on October 22,1995, at the San Francisco Whole Life Expo.

6Bruce May, Rx for Nearsightedness: Stress-

Maryland: William Wood and Company, 1943),

pp. 314-15.

13

1 4

1 5

Ibid-, p. 165.

Clara A. Hackett and Lawrence Galton, Relax

p. 26.

Aldous Huxley, The Art of S e e i n g (Berkeley, California: Creative Arts Book Co., republished