http://www.knowthecause.com/articles/read_article.php?id=17


The Eyes Have It
Doug A. Kaufmann

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), 14 million Americans suffer from an inability to see properly. The NIH offers a program called The National Eye Institute which enables people to make the most of their remaining vision. Unfortunately, fixing eye problems just doesn't seem plausible. As is the case with other diseases, doctors and researchers have thrown in the towel with regard to fixing present eye problems and are now directing research toward preventing eye diseases like macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataracts, to name a few. This works great for seven year olds, but what about those suffering with eye diseases now? Maybe we can help. As many of you know, I have long contended that without our doctors and researchers comprehending that fungus can cause vision and eye problems, much of ocular research is for naught. The moment that a researcher says, "Hey, this patient has yeast in his eyeball!", then he will have a new and sound reason for quality research to be established. As long as they are in the dark, so too shall we be.

One of the most interesting assertions regarding the fungal link to eye disease came in a January, 1995, Townsend Letter for Doctors Communicating with Doctors. Nineteen authors implicated yeast called Candida albicans in arthritis. Entitled, "Candidiasis, the Scourge of Arthritics", this fascinating article expounded upon the ability of yeast and fungus to enter virtually any human tissue and disseminate from the target tissue via the blood stream. One of the authors, Orian Truss, M.D., stated, "Not to diagnose and treat Candida albicans, (yeast), is a serious error because I've found that it causes more misery among men and women that all other diseases combined. In fact, I call the condition the Great Mimetic, because it can mimic almost any disease, from eye infections or allergy to colitics, cystitis, gastritis, brain tumor, multiple sclerosis, [arthritis], and even insanity."
Certainly eye infections can be caused by fungus. In fact, any infection not cured with a course of antibiotics likely has a fungal etiology.

Multiple yeast cells are called fungi. Fungi are known to spread throughout the body, given the proper conditions. I've often wondered why the medical community turns a deaf ear on the ability of fungi to contribute to virtually every medical condition, including eye disorders, since dissemination of these opportunistic organisms is so well documented within scientific literature. Dr. C.C. Kibbler's book, Principles and Practices of Clinical Mycology, dedicates an entire chapter to bloodstream fungal infections (fungaemia). In it, Dr. Kibbler states, "It is now clear that fungaemia due to Candida species, in particular, is an important condition affecting many different groups of patients." Dr. Kibbler's statement should be of particular interest to each of you suffering from chronic vision or eye problems. Upon reading his statement, my first question would be, "Are my vision problems caused by yeast?"
Millions of Americans do have eye problems. That cannot be denied. What must be questioned, however, is any medical diagnosis in which no cause has been established and no cure is known. A lifetime relegated to taking expensive and sometimes dangerous pharmaceutical drugs for an eye condition may not be in your best interest. This approach provides security for the prescribing physician and a handsome annuity for the drug industry, but will it ever fix your eye problem?

Simply put, something started your eye problems. Diseases never spontaneously generate. It is only after you can define what that "something" is, that you may be able to fix it. If you can simply assess the starting point of your eye problems, it may be possible to establish an organism, fungal or otherwise, that could be responsible for the degeneration that your doctor tells you is inevitable. Here are a few clues.

Did the problems begin while taking either antibiotics or cortisone? Antibiotics are powerful fungal metabolites, or "mycotoxins", which are poisons made by fungus. The residual effects of these poisons may remain long after the patient stops taking the drug. By unknown mechanisms, hormones (cortisone) can greatly aggravate yeast conditions.

Do you work in a toxic building or does your home smell moldy? Researchers in El Paso, Texas, have recently discovered fungus as a cause of "toxic building syndrome.
Were you cleaning a very dust area (attic, basement, garage, etc.)? Much of what we call "house dust" is actually mold and mildew.

Did you eye problems begin while in a sandstorm? A sand-based mold called Coccidioides immitis was established in the 1950s as the sole cause of Valley Fever, a fungal disease that was initiated upon inhaling the fungus. It quickly moves from the lungs to all areas of the body via the bloodstream. Its effects have been lethal.
Do you enjoy gardening? Soil is a rich source of fungal spores and inhalation of the spores may begin with a chronic cough and the fungus may disseminate to any organ.
" Did your eye problems develop while taking any prescriptive medication? Side effects of drugs are far too numerous to list here but do include vision problems.

The point is, if you are unhappy with your diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment program, the ball is in your court! You simply must roll up your sleeves and get to work! Unfortunately , eye doctors are largely unaware of a fungal component to most eye diseases. And don't hope for a miracle when it comes to using vitamin supplements. While I have read the scientific literature on the remarkable ability of some supplements to halt degenerating eye diseases, my guess is that you'd rather reverse the condition if you could, although arresting the deterioration would be nice. Try to find a food or fungal component initially. If none exist, certainly utilize supplementation. It certainly wouldn't hurt to use them while trying to isolate a food or fungal component to your eye problems, but remember: most B vitamins are produced in yeast. Be careful!

For decades, doctors and nutritionists have used supplements like grape see extract, pycnogenol, glutathione, Ginko Biloba, vitamins C and E, and a host of others with good success in eye disease. These days, I would also investigate bilberry, astaxanthin, and other newer supplements. There is little doubt that vitamins, minerals, and amino acid supplementation is beneficial in preventing further deterioration. Based on the premise that free radical damage (unpaired cellular electrons) is scavenged by these products, many have benefited by taking nutritional supplements. The question remains, however, as to the real root cause of free radical damage. I've heard it referred to as cellular "rust." Therein may lie one of the clues to all diseases caused by free radicals, several of which are eye diseases.
According to Gary Price Todd, M.D., (Nutrition, Health, & Disease), most free radicals are transported by the bloodstream and do great damage to tissues they come in contact with. Interestingly, according to The Bantam Medical Dictionary, the fungi family includes yeast, rust, mold and mushroom. Like free radicals, fungi use the bloodstream as their mode of transportation. Are free radicals and fungus (rust) the same things? Have we finally found the cause of heart disease, cancer, eye disease and all other diseases purportedly caused by free radicals? I am more convinced than ever that there is a clear link, and I am optimistic that the link holds the key to eradicating the problem.

With the proliferation of eye diseases in America, nearly every family has a member suffering from one of the hundreds of eye diseases. If you do not suffer from one, please forward this to a loved one who does. As always, know that it is our intent to educate rather than diagnose. Armed with this information, perhaps now would be a good time to rethink your visual malady… but please do so with assistance from your doctor.