ORGANIC LIVING
By
Robert Rodcde
New Way* To Keener Eyesight
Every year, hundreds of thousands of Americans have
their eyes examined only to be told that they need glasses.
So, they resolutely march out, get their prescription and
wind up wearing glasses or contact lenses for the rest of
their lives.
The science of treating eye disorders has made great
strides that have only recently been publicized. These
developments point to one fact: There is a possibility that
you can cure your problem without resorting to the final
solution of glasses or contact lenses.
A growing body of eye specialists believe that sight
problems can be cleared up through everything from diet
to exercise to lenses that actually correct a deficiency.
Diet may play a part in causing eye problems, said Dr.
William M. Ludlam, an optometrist who is formerly from
New York and now conducting research in Oregon. He
cites the Eskinlbs as examples.
Grandparents of present-day Eskimos had few cases of
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myopia, or nearsightedness. Today’s generation of
Eskimos is undergoing vast changes. “This near
epidemic of myopia may be a combination of many dif
ferent factors,” Dr. Ludlam said. “This is the first
generation to read. It’s the first to use electrical lights and
it’s the first generation to eat a non-protein diet. They’re
eating everything from popcorn to Coke.”
Dr. Ludlam has been clearing up cases of myopia
through the use of “positive lenses,” or simple reading
glasses.
The eye focuses through a process called ac
commodation. This means that when a .person looks up
from close work, through muscle action, the eye adjusts
and brings a distant object into focus.
When nearsightedness sets in, usually over a long
period of time, Dr. Ludlam fits his patients with positive
lenses. These reading glasses tend to push the individual’s
close visual environment back, thus helping the ac
commodation process. Eventually, says Dr. Ludlam, who
has had over 20 years of experience with the technique,
the nearsighteness is corrected and the individual doesn’t
have to have glasses anchored on his nose for a lifetime.
Exercises are also said to help. Dr. Marilyn B.
Hossanes-Berrett, a psychologist and director of the
Gestalt Center for Psychoterapy and Training in New
York, has developed a series of exercises and sight
training techniques that she claims can help a person to
strengthen his or her eyes to the point where he never
needs glasses or can discard them if previously worn.
The exercises, developed over 25 years, range from
swinging back and forth to help force blood up to the eyes
to taking deep breaths to get oxygen there. As with many
unconventional medical treatments, exercising or using
positive lenses to improve vision has had its share of
criticism from traditional medical authorities, which is
not entirely unfounded.
These techniques may not work for all people. But since
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vision fades ever so slowly, you can afford to find out if
they will work for you. If they don’t, you can always turn
to glasses or contact lenses.
If you are eventually forced to wear glasses, you should
make sure they are the proper prescription. Mistakes
usually occur when a patient takes a prescription to a
third party to have it filled, says Dr. Carl Cordova, a
Bucks County (Pa.) optometrist.
“I’ve seen patients come back to me with glasses that
were 100 percent in the wrong direction,” he says.
“Sometimes it’s a year or two before the mistake is
discovered. But, it’s amazing what people will ieam to
live with.”
The most important thing you can do to help yourself is
to make sure you have the proper prescription. Ask your
optometrist to make sure. Then, if you still think you
have a problem, get another opinion.
A good prescription should correct a patient’s vision.
After a day or two of possible disorientation, the glasses
should feel good and the eyes should become adjusted to
them. Any longer period of adjustment may mean that the
lenses are the wrong ones for you and that you may need a
new set.
Vision is valuable-too valuable to take chances with.
But when you go to an eye doctor and he tells you that you
need glasses, it is worth avoiding a lifetime of in
convenience to shop around for an alternative.
Your eyes didn’t go bad overnight, and it will take time
to correct your vision, if indeed it can be corrected without
resorting to glasses. Don’t accept what the first op
tometrist tells you without a second or even third opinion.
Remember, a lifetime of new-often stronger-lens
prescriptions face you if you wind up wearing glasses.
(Editor’s Note: The opinions appearing in “Organic
Living” are those of its author, Robert Eodale, an in
dependent columnist. Rodale’s comments do not
necessarily reflect the thinking of the Lancaster Farming
editor or anyone else on the Lancaster Farming staff.)
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