Giving Thanks For Everything Including Our Vision

ps Natural Vision Improvement markets itself as a lifestyle method of improving eyesight by wholistic means

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As we gather around the Thanksgiving table this year, we’ll tuck into turkey, toast to the future, and count our blessings-our family; our friends; our health, wealth, and happiness. Chances are, though, we’ll take our vision for granted, even as we gaze at our loved ones across the dining room or eye the plump apple pie on the sideboard. But for 37 million people worldwide, this Thanksgiving will be dark. They are blind, and 90 percent of them live in Third World countries. Their blindness, in most cases, was preventable, caused by diseases that can be cured by simple means and which have almost wholly disappeared in the Western world.

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Though it seems inconceivable in this day and age that anyone could lose their sight due to lack of medical intervention, in three out of four cases, these people’s blindness could be avoided or cured. For instance, cataracts-which are easily treated in the developed world-are the most frequent cause of blindness in developing countries. Age-related cataracts occur most frequently; however, a cataract can also be inherited, congenital or caused by injuries to the eye, which means that in poor regions many children are also frequently affected-every tenth blind child is blind because of cataract. People who suffer from cataract can be helped with a simple 15-minute operation, but many lack money for the surgery and access to a doctor.

A disease called onchocerciasis, or river blindness, is the world’s second-leading infectious cause of blindness. It is caused by a parasitic worm that can live for up to fourteen years in the human body. The worm is bred when a mosquito that lives near fast-flowing water bites people and infects them with tiny larvae. The larvae release millions of microscopically small worms that move around the body, eventually reaching the eye; the sight nerve is gradually destroyed and thus leads to incurable blindness. River blindness can be treated by a simple drug, Mectizan, which since 1988 has been provided free of charge by Merck; however, making sure that this medicine finds its way to the people who need it is still a huge challenge, and adequate water supplies that would go a long way toward preventing the disease in the first place have yet to be developed.

Trachoma is another devastating infectious eye disease. It is caused by a bacteria and spread by direct contact with eye, nose, and throat secretions (or items such as wash cloths or handkerchiefs) from affected individuals. Trachoma is particularly painful, as it causes the eyelid and connective tissue to swell up; after a period of time, scars are formed, and the eyelid gradually turns inwards. The eyelashes then scratch the cornea, and in time this leads to incurable blindness. The Centers for Disease Control states that “blindness due to trachoma has been eliminated from the United States. The last cases were found among American Indian populations and in Appalachia.” The disease could be diminished by simply improving sanitary conditions and is treated with antibiotics-or surgery, if the eyelid has turned inwards.

Finally, though not an eye disease in itself, vitamin A deficiency-the result of malnutrition and often in connection with diseases such as measles or diarrhea-can cause blindness. Children living in poverty are particularly affected: every year between 350,000 and 500,000 children go blind irreversibly because of a vitamin A deficiency.

So this year, as we give thanks, let us remember that our sight is indeed a precious gift-and that the vision of a better world for all is not just metaphorical but, indeed, literal. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Rebuild Your Vision.

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