Preserving Vision Naturally Through Chinese Medicine

Dr. Marc Grossman

As vision problems are reaching epidemic levels in our society, the eye care industry has become a multi-billion dollar business. Its major tools such as glasses, contact lenses and eye surgery enter the lives of virtually all citizens of the Western world. In The Art of Seeing, Aldous Huxley wrote, “If everyone who had deficient vision had broken legs, the streets would be full of cripples."

Patients go to their eye doctors year after year with worsening eyesight. They typically are told that this is a normal part of the aging process and that nothing can be done to prevent visual decline. They may be put on a lifetime of medications such as those diagnosed with glaucoma.

The following are common examples of conventional treatment or advice where in fact definitive holistic measures could be taken to prevent vision from deteriorating.

• Eye care professionals increase their patients’ prescriptions year after year as needed, and explain that weakening vision is just part of aging, even in children.
• People with cataracts (which includes nearly all adults over the age of 65) are told there is nothing that can prevent the growth of cataracts and therefore to wait until the cataract "ripens" (gets more opaque) and then have it removed surgically.
• Patients with macular degeneration are told there is nothing that can be done, that they will most likely lose vision and, in some cases, go blind.
• Patients with early stages of glaucoma are either immediately placed on medication for a lifetime, or told to wait and see if the condition worsens. In the meantime, the patients are not told of any of the preventative measures that could be taken.

Where is the much needed prevention, education and rehabilitation? There are numerous peer-review studies clearly showing that these eye conditions can respond to proper diet, lifestyle adaptations and nutritional supplementation, and that people can preserve their vision. As leaders in the complementary health care profession, acupuncturists and herbalists can expand their role readily into one of helping people maintain their invaluable gift of sight.

Medication and surgery are sometimes necessary and, in acute cases, can preserve vision. The role of modern Western medicine in saving lives and vision is remarkable, a true blessing. But medicine as practiced today lacks the holistic and preventive emphasis that many times can obviate the need for surgery and medications. There are certain conditions such as dry macular degeneration for which conventional medicine has virtually nothing to offer sufferers. This is an excellent example of where holistic medicine should be at the forefront of treatment rather than at the backdoor.

Acupuncture and Chinese herbs have successfully treated a wide range of visual conditions including glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration, optic neuritis and optic atrophy.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), all diseases involving the eye are closely related to the liver. It is also understood that the eye is nourished by all of the internal organs in the body. The lens of the eye and the pupil basically belong to the kidney, the sclera to the lungs, the arteries and veins to the heart, the top eyelid to the spleen, the bottom eyelid to the stomach, and the cornea and iris to the liver. The spleen and stomach also control circulation in the eyes. Therefore an imbalance in any of the internal organs may lead to eye disease.

As Chinese medicine practitioners, we are in a unique position to help people preserve their vision in many ways the not offered through the allopathic community.

About the Author
Dr. Grossman, OD, LAc, is one of the leading holistic eye doctors, has been in practice for over 27 years, and is the author of a number of 5 books on natural eye care including the following: co-author of Magic Eye - A 3D Guide (Andrews and McMeel, 1995), Natural Vision Care - An Encyclopedia (Keats Publishing) printed in April, 1999 (out of print), Greater Vision (McGraw Hill) printed in September, 2001 (revised in 2007), and Natural Eye Care: A Comprehensive Manual for Practitioners of Oriental Medicine, which is a 230-page manual describing both the Western and Eastern approaches to preserving eyesight for over 20 specific eye conditions. His newest book was just released in June, 2004 and is entitled Beyond 3D : Improve Your Vision with Magic Eye by Marc Grossman (Author), Magic Eye Inc. (Author), and his most recent book Natural Vision Care: Your Guide to Healthy Vision (Vision Works Media Services, Inc.) printed in November, 2007.

Dr. Grossman lectures nationally on topics such as Natural Vision Improvement, Vision and Nutrition, Psycho-Emotional Aspects of Visual Conditions, Vision & Learning, Holistic Integrative Visual Therapy, and Chinese Medicine and Vision Care. For more information and for a free copy of his Eye Exercise E-Booklet, visit his website at http://www.naturaleyecare.com or call (888) 735-8475.