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Q: Eye floaters ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   3 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Eye floaters
Category: Health
Asked by: wbodri-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 30 Apr 2004 11:09 PDT
Expires: 30 May 2004 11:09 PDT
Question ID: 338925
What is a comprehensive list of
natural/nutritional/naturopathic/complementary medicine products,
substances and techniques for getting rid of
eye floaters?

Clarification of Question by wbodri-ga on 01 May 2004 10:14 PDT
Thank you for your efforts but what you have related are diabetic
protocols, which I'm not asking about, and just general eye nutrients
(such as billberry, lutein, etc.) rather than protocols specific for
floaters in a non-diabetic.

I have a degree in Nutrition so I know about these general eye
nutrients ... I need protocols/substances/etc. SPECIFIC for floaters
such as any Chinese remedies, Japanese substances, proven nutritional
products, other protocols I don't know about.  Cases where floaters
went away when people tried substance X or protocol X other than just
general eye health.

Request for Question Clarification by librariankt-ga on 01 May 2004 20:38 PDT
Hi Wbodri,

In a June 1991 issue of Alive: Canada Journal of Health and Nutrition,
Zoltan Rona suggested a number of alternative medicine options (7) for
treating floaters.   I'm not sure if you'd consider this
"comprehensive"?  I'd be happy to post the citation with Dr. Rona's
suggestions as an answer, along with anything else I can find.  Please
let me know.

- Librariankt

Clarification of Question by wbodri-ga on 02 May 2004 09:03 PDT
Dear Librariankt --
That's EXACTLY what I want.
1) the exact protocols he recommends
2) the reference
I was hoping for more than one source so if you have more than that's
perfect. The other researcher gave protocols but they were for
diabetes in general and general eye health supplements.
I need specific protocols to try for floaters.
It would be wonderful if there were medline studies etc. on what worked.

Request for Question Clarification by librariankt-ga on 02 May 2004 11:35 PDT
Great!  I'll have all that info for you on Monday afternoon at the
latest.  I'll also look in some of the other health databases (CINAHL,
HealthSource, MEDLINE) and will have those results too. - Librariankt
Answer  
Subject: Re: Eye floaters
Answered By: librariankt-ga on 03 May 2004 12:14 PDT
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Hi Wbodri,

I have some protocols/recommendations/complementary medicine
treatments for you for eye floaters that I found in a variety of
places (all cited below).  First of all, let me note that I am a
librarian, not a doctor, so everything here is just the result of
literature research and is not medical advice.  Also, eye floaters can
be caused by a number of things, including nutrition, stress, and
(most scary) a retinal tear, so it is important to see an
opthalmologist to help determine the source of the floaters.  They
will not necessarily "go away over time", and ignoring them could
result in serious complications later on.  I should also note that the
complementary medicine treatments are generally for non-retinal
detachment cases of vitreous floaters - and that surgery is usually
necessary for that kind of floater.

Dr. Zoltan Rona and Dr. Karen Schad Byers suggest several treatments:

alternate hot and cold compresses over the eyes with a washcloth
(always end with cold)

Bates eye exercises (see 'The Art of Seeing' by Aldous Huxley for protocol)

spinal manipulation, especially to the neck and mid-back

castor oil or honey eye drops (1 drop 2x day)

eyebright tea internally (1-2 cups per day) and as an eyewash

vitamin C in very high doses (two grams every hour for 18 hours) - Dr.
Schad Byers notes that this was written up as a personal report in the
Rodal Encyclopedia of Home Remedies, and may not be effective for
everyone (or appropriate - high levels of vitamins can sometimes be
dangerous).

"Other treatments that can generally help include acupressure,
especially on the eye points, acute or constitutional homeopathy, a
cleansing diet or fasting and taking digestive aids between meals to
help the body clean up sludge (congestion from excess or wrong
foods.)" - Dr. Schad Byers

"Similasan Natural Eye Drops #1 would be an ideal homeopathic product
to use for a long list of benign eye conditions." - Dr. Rona

Dr. Rona also notes that a number of blood tests can rule out food
allergies or nutritional defects that might be causing them, including
the "RAST blood test, the ELISA/ACT test and a new test called the
DSP-1."
Citations: ALIVE ADVISOR ,  By: Schad Byers, Karen, Alive: Canadian
Journal of Health & Nutrition, 0228586X, Apr90, Issue 100

ALIVE ADVISOR ,  By: Rona, Zoltan, Alive: Canadian Journal of Health &
Nutrition, 0228586X, Jun91, Issue 110
Database: AltHealthWatch (EBSCO)

The Aldous Huxley "Art of Seeing" book was published in 1942 by Harper
and many times since.  I'm seeing in the WorldCat online catalog of US
and world libraries that it is widely held in various incarnations, so
you should not have a problem finding it.  It's also available for
sale on Amazon.com.  And yes, this is the Aldous Huxley of "Brave New
World."

I did a search in PubMed MEDLINE (www.pubmed.gov) for "vitreous
floaters" (this is the more medical term) and found that all
treatments described were surgical in nature - mainly using the Nd-YAG
laser to repair retinal tears or detachments.  Limiting the search to
the complementary subset returned no results.

A brief scan of pages returned for searches for "eye floaters" and
"complementary medicine" or "naturopathic" indicate a number of
supplements, mainly vitamin C, for treating eye floaters.  I think
this website has particularly helpful information (including
protocols):

VisionWorks, Inc: Floaters
http://www.visionworksusa.com/disease.asp?d_num=6
They recommend an herbal tincture (take orally) to cleanse the liver,
or capsules or solution of milk thistle extract to do the same.  They
also suggest other supplements that help make the eyes more porous to
nutrients.

It's somewhat hard to find others using a standard search, since most
pages seem to point to this one or are discussion boards about vitamin
C.

I hope this information helps!  Please let me know if I can clarify
anything in my answer for you, otherwise good luck!

- Librariankt

Request for Answer Clarification by wbodri-ga on 05 May 2004 07:52 PDT
Question for clarification...when searching did you check "vitreous
opacities" which is another name for "floaters" or "eye floaters"?

Clarification of Answer by librariankt-ga on 05 May 2004 09:08 PDT
Hi Wbodri,

The term "vitreous opacities" did not bring up new articles in any of
the literature databases I tried (AltHealthWatch, AMED, CINAHL,
HealthSource, or MEDLINE).  Sorry!

librariankt
wbodri-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars and gave an additional tip of: $5.00
This is what I wanted exactly. There's not much info out there on the
question but they got as much as could be gotten.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Eye floaters
From: consultingpharmacist-ga on 30 Apr 2004 15:21 PDT
 
As we age, degenerative changes occur, and in the eye, the vitreous
gel can liquefy, creating vitreous floaters of different sizes and
varying degrees of density. This is usually harmless, but may be
caused by the onset of age-related diabetes. If you experience
floaters is important to have eyes checked for a sinister cause.

If there is a prediabetic state or risk of diabetes that is causing
the problem take daily in devided doses:

chromium picolinate 500mcg
bitter melon 500mg
gymnema sylvestra extract 1000mg
lipoic acid 250-500mg 

If not caused by diabetes but merely the aging process then as with
all degenerative disorders, it is difficult to treat but easy to
prevent or halt.

Prevention of eye related degenerative diseases you need to take
antioxidants that are patial to neutralising free radicals in the eye
particularly.

I would suggest all of the following daily, in devided doses:

10mg lutein / zeaxanthin blend
500mg bilberry extract, standardised to 25% Anthocyanidins

Kindest regards

Brent Murphy - B.Pharm (Rhodes)
Complementary Medicine Consulting Pharmacist
Subject: Re: Eye floaters
From: rhodyman-ga on 30 Apr 2004 18:37 PDT
 
To consultingpharmacist: While I respect your knowledge of
complementary medication, I think it is inherently dangerous to
recommend botanicals with little knowledge of the patient and what
other medications they may be taking. It is well known that some
botanicals may interact with commonly prescribed medications and these
interactions can be devastating for the patient. And, I challenge you
to find any scientific evidence to support your assertions that the
products you mentioned are helpful for eye floaters.

To wbodri,
Don't worry about the floaters, they are harmless. They will either go
away over time, or your brain will ignore them and make them
"invisible" to your eye.
Subject: Re: Eye floaters
From: librariankt-ga on 04 May 2004 09:28 PDT
 
Thank you for the tip!  

I should note there's a typo - it should be the Rodale Encyclopedia,
not the Rodal Encyclopedia.  Just in case you go looking for it.

- Librariankt

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