Are You Worried About Low Vision and Blindness? Nutritional Support Can Help!

Blindness can be a fact of life for those with diabetes or inherited conditions and for many it is inevitable as we age. Blindness, also sometimes called vision impairment or low vision means that even without surgery that you don’t see well. Common diseases associated with blindness are cataract, glaucoma and macular degeneration.

The term low vision is usually used with regards to aging. Low vision means that even with regular glasses, contact lenses, medicine, or surgery, people find it difficult to do ordinary every day things such as read the mail, watch television shop, cook, watch television or read the labels on jars.

Blindness means the complete loss of slight although there total loss of eyesight can be gradual. Blindness is due to aging. It can be due to a variety of symptoms including macular degeneration, cataract, glaucoma, and diabetes. Some people develop vision loss after eye injuries or from birth defects.

The main symptom of blindness is fuzzy or blurry vision. However depending on the cause of the blindness you may also experience changes in the color or shape of the retina in the eye, cloudiness, dullness of the pupil and watery eyes.

Causes of Blindness

Vision may become blurry for a variety of reasons. Refractive error, which includes such, disorders as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism results in chronically blurry vision that can usually be overcome with corrective lenses. Eyestrain, fatigue and excessive tearing can result in temporary blurring of vision. A disturbance in the fluid balance in the body can also result in blurry vision.

A recurring tendency to periodic blurring occurs when three is an inadequate supply of the light-sensitive pigment in the eye called rhodospin or visual purple. Visual purple is created by Vitamin A and Retin which is why taking these vitamins is essential to eye health. Nutritional support can go a long way towards helping this these sorts of issues.

Cataracts cause blindness when the lens of the eye thickens becoming clouded or opaque. The eye then becomes unable to focus or admit light properly. Some causes of cataracts include aging, diabetes, heavy metal poisoning, exposure to radiation, injury to the eye and the use of certain drugs such as steroids.

When loss of vision or blindness occurs because of diabetes it is caused diabetic retinopathy. This is a disorder in which some of the tiny capillaries that nourish the retina leak fluid or blood can damage the cells of the eyes. New capillaries then begin to form in the injured area and interfere with vision.

Another common condition that causes hazy or obstructed vision is rheumatoid arthritis, which can lead to a condition called uveitis. This is an inflammation in the middle layer of the eye, which consist of the iris the ciliary body and the choroid.  In this case, naturopathy comes into play for treating the arthritis .

Any type of blockage of a blood vessel serving the retina can also cause blindness. The culprit in this case is usually a blood clot.  Usually only one ye is affected.

Inflammation of the optic nerve is also another possible cause of vision loss. Such inflammation may occur as the result of a systemic illness or infection.

Retinitis Pigmentosa also causes blindness. It is an inherited disease that affects approximately one out of every 3,700 people. In this disorder metabolic flaws slowly but progressively destroy retinal cells. The first symptom is loss of night vision beginning in adolescence and then total loss of vision between the ages of thirty and eight.

Care and Treatment

The care and treatment of blindness depends on what caused the condition in the first place.

If low vision, inflammation of the optic nerve or uveitis is the problem then you may be prescribed glasses or contact lenses. Laser surgery for the correction of vision is also an option. If the problem is cataracts then the lense of the eye is surgically removed and a manmade lense is inserted over the top of the eye to replace it. 

If the problem is glaucoma then an operation is performed to relieve the pressure of the fluids on the eye that may be affecting the eyesightIn cases of retinal detachment a surgeon reattaches the optical nerve that 

has detached in an operation. This may be done with scalpels or with laser surgery.

The prognosis for degenerative conditions such as low vision is good as usually the solution is to correct it with surgery, eye wear or contact lenses. Surgery is successful with glaucoma and cataracts.However permanent blindness can easily result from conditions such as diabetes, Retinitis Pigmentosa and macular degeneration.

Having the proper nutritional support can really help with these conditions as can treating the underlying cause.

For more information or to book a consultation about the health of your eyes, diet and weight loss programs or any health issue you may be experiencing, visit the Pinewood Natural Health Clinic website that has a list of full services and products at www.pinewood.ca or call our Toronto Office at  (416)-656- 8100.  We also have an office in Pickering, Ontario at (905)-427-0057. You can also email us at info@pinewoodhealth.ca and we would be happy to answer any question that you have about our holistic health services.