Eye Diseases 159weight of his human subjects. He published a paper in Eye, Ear, Nose,
and Throat Monthly on the results.^5 According to the article, this mas-
sive amount of vitamin C dramatically reduced the intraocular pressure
in glaucoma by converting toxic waste to a soluble form so that it could
be carried away by the capillaries in the eye. Once the volume of waste
in the eye fl uids was reduced, the swelling of the drainage canal went
down and the excess fl uid drained out of the canal, thus eliminating the
pressure. The problem is, how many people’s gastrointestinal systems
could handle that much vitamin C?
Where do the acid wastes come from that clog the drainage canal?
The answer is in the blood vessels in the cornea. When these blood
vessels develop leaks, waste debris fl ow out and enter the drainage canal,
clogging it. The blood vessel walls, however, can be strengthened so
that waste can’t escape. The best formula for healing leaking blood
vessels is the following: 1 g vitamin C and 1 g biofl avonoids three times
a day, along with twenty drops of bilberry extract (for its biofl avonoid
content) three times daily. Vitamin C and biofl avonoids are two of the
most important building blocks of collagen, the “cement” that holds the
cells together and so prevents seepage.
Pigment also helps heal glaucoma (as well as macular degeneration)
because it absorbs the light-carr ying images that enable us to see. Ever y
time we open our eyes and absorb light rays, we lose some pigment. It
must be replaced for our vision to remain intact. In glaucoma, eye pig-
ment is destroyed by the buildup of pressure on the retina.
Even if we have healthy eyes, as we use them, pigment gets used up.
The best way to take care of the eyes’ pigment requirements is to eat a
lot of vegetables and fruit that have the pigments the eyes need. Supple-
ments are also useful in this regard. Lutein, a pigment similar to the
color of the beta-carotene in carrots (called carotenoid pigment), pre-
vents further deterioration to the cone and rod cells in the retina caused
by pressure. It does so by replenishing a purple pigment called rhodop-
sin in the rod cells. Both lutein and rhodopsin, however, are diminished
by the actions they take to preserve our eyesight and improve our
vision. The retinene in rhodopsin, a yellow pigment that is a form of
vitamin A, is lost every time rhodopsin splits into its component parts
in order to help us see in the dark (rhodopsin is made of retinene and a
protein called opsin). By the same token, a portion of the orange pig-
ment lutein is lost every time it heals the rod cells in the retina.