We’re extremely pleased to add a new author to the ranks of our guest authors. Facebook group member Cathy Meggs tells us about…
The Other Shoe, My Journey: Part 1 by Cathy Meggs
We are always looking for people to write for us. If you are interested, let us know at light2sight5153@gmail.com. I’ll be happy to help with the editing and I’ll put your words on the website.
Review by Chrissie Whitfield, New Zealand, Facebook group member
READERS NOTE – some of the original emphasis and intent from the author may be lost with the brevity of this review in MY words.
CURE AMD – Ancestral Dietary Strategy to Prevent & Reverse Macular Degeneration by Chris A.Knobbe, MD (University Professor of Ophthalmology) – 2016
Last week I offered to review this book and to be honest I expected to glide through a lightweight opinion piece and write up a couple of sentences to cover it. Not so.
Bear with me, my own diagnosis is still relatively new (in the previous couple of weeks), and many of you that have been here a while may already know and be familiar with similar / same nutritional research, on that basis this review is written from the perspective of the newly diagnosed.
Let me start by saying that despite the title, the author is NOT proposing that if you change your diet today you will be able to reverse any pre-existing damage and / or restore sight that has been lost.
What he IS saying (and quotes an extraordinary amount of global research from the 1800’s through to present day to support his claim), is that AMD can be prevented and early stage AMD reversed through the adoption of an ancestral dietary strategy and the used of what he terms ‘sacred foods’. In fact he goes further to state (in brief) that:
– AMD is not ‘age related’ but diet related
– The incidence of AMD and other diseases were either extremely rare or did not exist over 100 years ago
– There is a demonstrably clear relationship between the introduction of nutritionally deficient man made and / or processed food and the incidence and prevalence of AMD (and other disease). Additionally, the author proposes that the use of vitamins /mineral supplements and synthetically derived nutrients CAN in some cases POSSIBLY assist some AMD patients but in other cases it MAY be detrimental, whereas replacing your diet with naturally produced foods in an enriched diet (natural vitamins, fatty acids, minerals etc. is the key to good health and a natural immunity to a great number of diseases including AMD. So, essentially he claims that macular degeneration should not be considered in isolation and by changing your diet and ‘eating right to save your sight’ you would also be reducing your risk of a multitude of other diseases (for example: heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, auto immune disorders).
He further states that not much has changed in the theories and hypothesis put forward in the early 1900’s through to today and there have been many studies assessing age, genetics, ethnicity and their role is AMD but little around the parallel between the introduction of trans fats (for example) and the prevalence of AMD.
Without boring you all, there are a number of really interesting research facts and figures (including the fact that as of 2010, AMD had replaced cataracts as the most common cause of blindness in high income regions) – not just in the USA, but inclusive of all regions around the world (including little ole New Zealand, I was pleased to see!).
So in a nutshell in the 1800’s (when instances of AMD were very rare), nutritionally it was a much simpler world as foods were mostly whole and unprocessed and largely organic – there were no such thing as edible vegetable oils, refined sugars and flours, high fructose corn syrups, highly refined wheat flours, genetically modified corn and soy for example.
Tracking the main changes to the (American) diet from the 1800’s the author demonstrates the relationship between the increase of the use of sugar from circa 1850 and the introduction of harmful vegetable oils in late 1800’s with the increase in disease generally and the prevalence of AMD.
In the final stages of the book, the author discusses the use of synthetic vitamins, what he means by ‘whole unprocessed foods’, the grains to eat (and how to prepare them), an outline of the ‘sacred foods’ and a list of foods (and food types) to avoid as a plan to prevent and reverse early stage AMD.
IN MY PERSONAL OPINION – knowledge is power and at the very least, this book is worth a read if you are like me and seeking a wider understanding of both historical research (in both nutrition and AMD) as well as identification of options available to you in early stage AMD.
**Note: we receive no money from the sale of this or any other book that we mention on our website or Facebook group not do we recommend a book unless we say that explicitly.
Sue talks about some of the things she’s heard regarding pet peeves of people who are blind (eg, avoiding statements like “ya see what I mean”) vs people who are visually impaired (eg, people who come up to Sue & just start talking). Sue asks about YOUR…
Sue’s written about the depression that comes with a diagnosis of AMD. What effect does it have on the family?
Sue continues to search for information about how much of her sight she could possibly lose and shares some early information about the extent of both central and peripheral vision (more to come). On another topic, she’s not the only one who says “if we have to be losing our sight, this is the best time in the history of man to be doing it.” Not only are there injections to manage the symptoms of wet AMD, we have a lot of visual aids – computer and non-computer – plus the body of scientific knowledge & research is growing by leaps and bounds. You may recognize this page’s title from the X-Files TV show. Should we have the “MD-Files”? ::smile::
Whoops, this should have gone out 2 days ago…sorry!
There is a company in the UK who has created low vision goggles that they say gives many of the functions of a CCTV that you can wear. Here’s more information in this page. We’d love to have a volunteer to test this and give us a report.
Sue easily admits that she sometimes doesn’t apply techniques that she knows & teaches to her own life. In this case, she tells us to do as she says, not as she does – in this case about…
Title & date first published
Do you have suggestions for keywords? Please let me know here or send me an email at light2sight5153@gmail.com.
One of the limitations of our website is that it doesn’t easily allow people to interact with each other (there is the option of the reader leaving comments but everyone doesn’t see them necessarily, it’s a way to be in contact with Sue & me). We have a Facebook group which at the moment has 663 members (growing steadily) where we can easily have conversations. Last weekend we had a very lively one about how our friends and loved ones react to our vision loss or fears of vision loss. Sue’s not in the group because she is so busy but I do keep her appraised of what’s going on. She shares her research and experience on the topic.
To find out more about the Facebook group, click here.
In September of 2016, National Geographic had as its cover story “Why There’s New Hope About Ending Blindness”. Of course, we hope that means an end to AMD which is only 1% of the world’s cause of the total picture. What about the other 99%?
My Macular Degeneration Journal 