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Cataract-Prevention & Reversal:

Light and Radiation:

Avoid ionizing radiation including excessive ultraviolet (UV) as well as excessive violet, indigo and blue light. Excessive exposure to UV-B light in particular has been shown to cause cumulative damage in the lens leading to both nuclear and posterior subcapsular cataracts. Other studies show that excess UV-B exposure can be a factor in cortical as well as subcapsular cataracts. The closer one is to the equator, the more potential there is for overexposure, with up to 4,000 hours of sunlight a year in southern states versus less than 2,000 hours up north. Cataract risk doubles from New York to Florida and doubles again between there and the equator. In northern countries like Scandinavia and Canada, cataract causes up to 13% of all blindness, but in equatorial areas, it ranges up to 60%. Eye doctors generally recommend wearing a hat and a good pair of sunglasses during the middle of the day.

UV damage depends on the amount of protection provided by dietary and supplemental antioxidants. Dr. Lane�s data also suggests that damage from a given level of excess UV-B exposure depends upon the individual�s anti-oxidant status, particularly the enzymes SOD and glutathione peroxidase. Studies on possible effects of blue light on cataract are contradictory. Lenses that absorb blue light can improve visual acuity by reducing the glare from cataracts by 63 to 86%. UV absorbing eyeglasses or contact lenses are also available that do not distort the visible spectrum of light, while absorption of blue light results in a lens that appears yellow, orange, brown or red, and can imbalance reflex responses of the nervous system, as well as endocrine and immune functions. It may be beneficial, according to some of Dr. John Ott�s observations to allow some full-spectrum light into the eyes daily, which includes physiological amounts of the near UV spectrum. This finding was recently reinforced by epidemiological studies that found lower rates of cataracts in Americans who spent more time in the sun. The opposite was found in people studied in Italy and India. Ultimately, the damage to the lens may be a combination of effects due to interactions of UV radiation with slight elevations in blood sugar and mild nutrient deficiencies, as well as other factors.

Avoid excess infrared (heat) radiation. Infrared absorbing lenses and shields can protect the eyes of welders, furnace workers, pizza makers and others working around intense infrared sources.

Avoid the use of microwave ovens, and food prepared in them. Microwaves can cause cataracts directly, but also food proteins exposed to microwaves become toxic to the lens, which is made mostly of protein. Nitrogen bonds on the amino acids are broken by this radiation, making them undigestible. Changes seen in the blood after just two weeks of eating microwaved food are like those seen in cancer patients.

If natural remedies are not working for you, consider electromagnetic interference, either man-made or from natural sources. Avoid exposure to electromagnetic fields. A gauss meter can quickly pick up otherwise undetectable energy fields that may be disrupting tissue detoxification along the meridians during sleep, when the body is relatively stationary for many hours each day and more susceptible to such interference. Try changing your sleeping location. You may be sleeping over a fault line or running water stream, which locally distorts the earth�s magnetic field, contributing to chronic unwellness. European studies show that one out of three chronic health conditions fail to respond to appropriate natural therapies until electromagnetic interference is eliminated.

The next section covers herbal remedies for cataract prevention and reversal.

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Endnotes (see print version for placement):

Van Kuijk F. Effects of ultraviolet light on the eye: role of protective glasses. Environmental Health Perspectives 96:177-84, 1991.

Taylor HR, et al. New England Journal of Medicine, Dec. 1, 1988; 319(22):1429-33.

Lerman S. New England Journal of Medicine, 1988; 319(22):1475-7.

Collman GW, et al. American Journal of Public Health, Nov. 1988; 78(11)1459-62.

Data, U.S. Weather Service

Zigman S., et al, �Sunlight and human cataract: an epidemiologic investigation,� American Journal of Epidemiology 105:450-59, 1997.

Young R.W., Age Related Cataract, Oxford University Press, New York, 1991.

�The ocular hazards of UV exposure,� Monograph, American Academy of Opthalmology, Public Health Committee, June 25, 1989.

Costagliola L.T., et al, �Cataract risk factors; blood levels of antioxidative vitamins, reduced glutathione and malondialdehyde in cataractous patients,� �Metabolic, Pediatric and Systemic Opthalmology 14: 31-36, 1991.

Lane BC. Dietary & Nutriture Risk Factors for Change in Cataracts and Macular & Vitreous Diseases. presented to the College of Syntonic Optometry, 1995.

Tupper B., Miller D., Miller R., �The efect of a 550 nm cutoff filter on the vision of cataract patients,� Annals of Opthalmology, 70:38, 1985.

Schoenfeld ER, et al. Recent epidemiological studies on nutrition and cataracts in India, Italy and the United States. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 10(5):540/Abstract 22, 1991.

Auricchio G., Libondi T., �The physiologic and pharmacologic factors protecting the lens transparency and the update approach to the preventionof experimental cataracts: a review,� Medtabolic, Pediatric and Systemic Opthalmology 7: 115-24, 1983.

Swartwout, G.M. Electromagnetic Pollution Solutions (AERAI Publishing, Hilo, Hawai�i, 1991)

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The next section covers herbal remedies for cataract prevention and reversal.