Homeopathic approach to treating eye disease
The homeopathic approach to treating eye disease is much different than the traditional approach of using eye drops and surgery. I hope to explain that injections and laser for macular degeneration, cataract surgery go against homeopathic laws of healing and are causing suppression. This is leading to an decrease in our health and well being! In fact, the standard method of lowering pressure by blocking aqueous production with eye drops is much like treating a person with high blood pressure by giving him medication to stop the production of blood! It does not make sense!
Homeopathic treatment is based on true laws of healing. True laws do not change over time. When I studied homeopathy I used the same text books that were used over 250 years ago. These homeopathic laws of healing have not changed unlike modern medicine which changes treatment methods every year. Are we benefiting from these modern approaches? I do not think so, in fact as a whole, eye disease, especially macular degeneration and glaucoma are increasing.
There’s been a dramatic increase in eye disease worldwide. Why is this happening? Can homeopathic laws explain this increase?
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, age-related eye disease including cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration are expected to dramatically increase from 28 million today to 43 million by the year 2020
The Archives of Ophthalmology published a study in the year 2003 looking at 10,500 patients. Age-related macular degeneration increased from 5 per cent to 27.1 per cent between 1991 and 1999. Primary open-angle glaucoma has increased by 13.8%.
The first law in homeopathy is the Law of Similars. This states that a substance that produces (symptoms) or disease in a healthy person will be able to cure these symptoms in a disease state. An example is Belladonna. A healthy individual ingesting belladonna will develop a fever with a throbbing headache, red face, thirst and hallucinations. So a sick person presenting with these symptoms will benefit from taking Belladonna.
The body has a wisdom and disease is an attempt for the body to produce homeostasis or a balance. When a person develops a fever the body needs this fever to fight off an infection. A homeopathic remedy supports what the body needs to do to achieve homeostasis. Traditional medicine treats with opposites so a person will receive a medication to lower the fever- a opposite affect. But this goes against the bodies wisdom in trying to achieve a balance. It does not heal but simply suppresses the symptoms and does not treat the underlying problem. It may seem very dangerous to give a substance that can cause the same symptoms. Wouldn’t this cause an aggravation? Interestingly this approach helps the body achieve its goal of homeostasis. Once the homeopathic medicine begins to act the body no longer needs the symptoms or disease and the problem is eradicated.
The second law is Herrings Law. This states that the body acquires disease in a certain direction and then disease will leave in the opposite direction. For example patients with skin disease who are treated with steroids with often develop asthma. The disease is pushed deeper into the body leading to a more serious disease. When this same person is treated homeopathically the asthma will improve but the skin condition will return.
The last law is the Law of dilution. This for most people is the most difficult to understand. Homeopathic remedies are diluted to infinitesimal dilutions. How can they work? remember the Law of Similars. We select homeopathic remedies that produce the same action as the disease. We want the homeopathic remedy to act as a gentle catalyst to restore the boy to homeostasis.
I’d like to talk about suppression as an explanation for the increase in eye disease. Unfortunately most modern medicine produces suppression by pushing the disease inward and deeper with the result of more serious problem.
The biggest contributor to eye disease, I believe, is big pharma, or the pharmaceutical industry. The largest contributing cause to the increase of all eye disease is suppression produced by modern medicines.
Here are some examples of suppression:
Antibiotics for conjunctivitis
Treatment of chronic blepharitis
Steroid eye drops
Laser surgery and injections for retinal disease
Why? The disease is being treated with opposites and this causes the disease to be pushed deeper in the body. This will result in a more serious eye problem
Here are some of the side effects or the results of suppression in using steroid eye drops. These are listed by modern medicine as “side effects” but they are the result of suppression
Increase in intraocular pressure, sometimes leading to glaucoma.
Injections and laser for macular degeneration might help improve the vision for the short term but for the long term the results can produce serious side effects due to suppression. Glaucoma eye drops can particularly be suppressive when used to lower the intraocular pressure. Glaucoma medications suppress the natural production of aqueous humor, which is essential in transporting oxygen and nutrients to the eye.
There are two homeopathic approaches to viewing eye disease based on the law of similars. The first is to look at substances that produce similar pathology that is found in the disease. These would be substances that cause retinal damge, an elevation of eye pressure and substances that cause atrophy or damage to the optic nerve.
The homeopathic approach to treating eye disease is not new and there’s a strong history of homeopathy in ophthalmology. The New York Ophthalmic Hospital was a homeopathic hospital in 1852 and it was under homeopathic management until 1867. In 1931 it treated over 31,000 patients.
The American Homeopathic Ophthalmology and Otology Society existed from 1877, and was still in existence in 1941.
Here are standard works on ophthalmology by homeopaths. For example Homeopathic Therapeutics in Ophthalmology, published in 1916 by John L. Moffat, M.D., and Ophthalmic Diseases and Therapeutics, which was published in 1872 by A.B. Norton, M.D.
Both of these books along with other published articles support the benefit of homeopathy in the treatment of eye disease.
As homeopaths we look at the whole person all symptoms: mental emotional and physical. So perhaps 100 people with eye disease might each need a different homeopathic remedy.
My interest in treating eye disease are to find remedies that are effective in reversing or stopping the damage to the eye. Lets first look at macular degeneration. In macular degeneration there is damage to the central area of the retina called the macula. Based on homeopathic laws we need to look at substances that cause macular degeneration in a healthy retina. The following substances are reported in the medical literature as causing macular degeneration; Allopurinol, Amodiaquinne, Broxyquinoline, Chloroquine, Clonidine, Griseofulvin, Ibuprofen, Indomethacin, Iodochlorhydroxyquin, Iodoquinol and Quinine.
Chloroquine was given for malaria prophylaxis and treatment, and, later, it was used by rheumatologists for treating rheumatoid arthritis, systemic/discoid lupus erythematosus, and other connective tissue disorders. It has been observed since the 1950’s to cause retinal toxicity and pigment changes very similar to what occurs in macular degeneration. Based on homeopathic laws, the Law of Similiars, this substance in a very dilute state would have the potential to treat macular degeneration.
Three homeopathic remedies used to treat macular degneration are Benzinum dinitricum, iodoformium and Carboneum sulphuratum. These are toxic petrochemicals which produce toxic reactions in the retina and produce changes of macular degeneration. They are well documented in the homeopathic literature to produce retinal degeneration and central scotomas (loss of central vision characteristic of macular degeneration). I am not stating that all patients of macular degeneration would need one of these three remedies. Homeopathy looks at not only the local characteristics of the eye pathology but also the general physical, mental and emotional states of the person. These are all used to select a homeopathic remedy. 10 patients each with macular degeneration might all need a different homeoapthic remedy.
A good example of the homeopathic approach of optic nerve damage is to review a condition called toxic amblyopia. This is a toxic reaction in the orbital portion (papillomacular bundle) of the optic nerve which is caused by various toxic and nutritional factors. Toxic amblyopia is usually bilateral and symmetric (similar to glaucoma damage) In alcoholics, undernutrition may be the underlying cause. Other substances which can damage the optic nerve are tobacco, lead, methanol, chloramphenicol, digoxin, ethambutol, DDT, aniline dyes and many other chemicals including many over the counter and prescription drugs.
Most of the above substances are listed in the homeopathic literature as being effective in the treatment of glaucoma
My experience has lead me to believe that petrochemicals from plastic are a big contributing factor to diseases of the optic nerve. We are bombarded with plastic products. Plastic water bottles, plastic storage containers, plastic wrap and even microwaving in plastic. Studies have shown that plastic produces harmful chemical products that are leaching into our food and water. In the homeopathic literature many of these products are listed as remedies for the treatment of optic nerve damage.
Homeopathy can be extremely helpful in the treatment of all eye disease. Please remember that cases of macular degeneration and glaucoma can be a very serious. Typically I do not stop medications or treatments until I observe a positive effect of the homeopathic remedy. This is especially true of glaucoma. Even if there is pressure lowering effect with homeopathic medication, I will carefully monitor the pressure as the glaucoma drops are tapered.