Hello all,
A double whammy this month as i didnt send a newsletter last month.
A decade after Laser eye surgery(Lasik) hit the market, patients left with fuzzy instead of clear vision are airing their grievances before federal health officials in the USA according to MSNBC.
Patients harmed by Lasik eye surgery recently told federal health advisers stories of severe eye pain, blurred vision and even a son's suicide. The advisers recommended that the government warn more clearly about the risks of the popular operations.
About 700,000 Americans a year undergo the elective laser surgery. Of those, several thousand suffer serious, life-changing side effects, such as worse vision, severe dry eye, glare, and inability to drive at night.
Officials heard how Colin Dorrian, a law school student from suburban Philadelphia, endured six years of eye pain and impaired vision before he finally killed himself in 2007. Matt Kotsovolos’ operation was classified as successful even though he has suffered from debilitating and unremitting eye pain for two years.
The Food and Drug Administration(FDA) advisers recommended that warnings for would-be Lasik patients:
- • Add photographs that illustrate what people suffering certain side effects actually see
- • Clarify how often patients suffer different side effects
- • Make more understandable the conditions that should disqualify someone from Lasik
- • Spell out that anyone whose nearsightedness is fixed by Lasik is guaranteed to need reading glasses in middle age, which could be avoided if they skip Lasik.
Lasik surgery is a procedure that permanently changes the shape of your cornea, the clear covering of the front of the eye. With a knife known as a microkeratome, a flap is cut in the cornea; a hinge is spared at one end of the flap. The hinged flap is then folded back, revealing the stroma (the middlesection of the cornea). Finally, pulses from a computer-controlled laser vaporize a portion of the stroma and the flap is replaced.
Many people think that Lasik surgery will simply and quickly result in perfect vision. That simply is not the case at all. Even when successful, the procedure leads to at least six months of impaired vision and significant discomfort, at the end of which only one eye may have normal sight. If the first eye does not heal to expectation, the second operation on the other eye will never even be done, and the imbalance will be permanent.
Lasik surgery does nothing to treat the underlying causes of your vision loss. The same actually holds true for glasses of any kind -- they're both guaranteed to worsen your vision in the long run.
Fortunately, there are effective alternatives. There is a vision restoration technique called the Bates Method. This highly suppressed natural vision program was developed by the pioneering medical doctor and ophthalmologist Dr. William Bates, who died back in 1931. Dr. Bates, a maverick physician who dedicated his life to learning why people develop problems with their eyesight, was far ahead of his time. His combination of simple yet powerful methods of vision re-training can allow you to see better naturally -- with just a few minutes a day of easy practice.
According to Dr. Bates' teachings, the most common vision problems are not irreversible; they are the result of chronic tension in some or all of your six extrinsic eye muscles. These muscles can be retrained to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia. His program does not involve eye exercises, but rather focuses on relaxation, mental reframing and perspective shifting. There are many books on the Bates Method available on the internet from amazon.com or get you local book shop to order one.
Nutrition is very important for improving vision. Lutein and zeaxanthin are carotenoids, which are responsible for the yellow colour in many fruits and vegetables and have a beneficial effect on vision and eye health. Lutein and Zeaxanthin are found in eggs, spinach, and other leafy green vegetables. Where possible consume in their raw form. All berries are great here too. There are some great herbal medicines that aid in restoring eyesight. Overworking the eyes is the same as overworking any muscle in the body, they will malfunction and give pain when pushed beyond their limits. Long term computer and TV exposure are the worse culprits here so take it easy on these. Get adequate sleep and rest.
In health
Gabriel