Talking of eyes.

I was needed new glasses (well, lenses, anyway), every 6 months.

I quized the optician about why my prescription was changing so rapidly, he said it could be cataracts and took a more careful look in my eyes and hey presto.

What about night vision.

I think whether one sees haloes or not depends on the type of cataract. I don't see them but because of glare it wouldn't be safe for me to drive. Some light sources, for example vehicle lights look something like:

Tim Streater snipped-for-privacy@greenbee.net wrote

Could be means that some get that without cataracts.

Cataracts is the lens going cloudy, not changing shape.

There seem to be some websites which recommend new glasses for cataracts. I don't find the "evidence" convincing. I can't see how cloudy vision can be improved by changing the strength of the lenses in the glasses.

I've had a mistrust of opticians since my father complained of not being able to see clearly. He was in an old age home and there were regular visits from a local optician. His new glasses didn't help. Fortunately, I happened to be visiting when a locum optician (an Aussie) was testing his eyes a few moths later. I mentioned that the new glasses he'd recently had didn't help. He replied that he was not at all surprised as he could see that my father had quite advanced Age-Related Macular Degeneration! Nothing could help that - he was effectively being ripped off for useless new glasses by the optician.

The lens isn't changing shape, its composition is changing which alters the refractive index and hey presto.

I also have slight astimatism. Illuminated rear number plates and stars can appear as slightly doubled if I don't wear glasses. No street lights on farmland so I am not usually aware of any problem.

I can't find a link to the original 1936(?) scientific paper on the use of N-acetyl carnosine for treating cataract.

Apparently L-carnosine is the substance in the eye that has the ability to dissolve cataract, but in the form of eye drops it cannot penetrate the surface of the eye. N-acetyl carnosine can penetrate the eye's surface, and in the anterior chamber is converted by a substance already present to L-carnosine.

Carnosine is available as a dietary supplement from Amazon (and doubtless many other places), and N-acetyl carnosine also is available from Amazon as eye drops.

Some info:

" Results: The overall intra-reader reproducibility of cataract measurements (image analysis) was 0.830, and glare testing 0.998. After

Conclusion: Topical NAC shows potential for the treatment and prevention of cataracts. "

"The scientists exposed tissue cultures of healthy rat lenses to either guanidine ? a substance known to form cataracts ? or a combination of guanidine and carnosine. The guanidine lenses became completely cloudy, while the guanidine/carnosine lenses developed 50 to 60 percent less cloudiness. Carnosine also restored most of the clarity to clouded lenses. The results demonstrate the potential of using carnosine for preventing and treating cataracts, the scientists say."

"The downside of many natural illness prevention options is that they have no scientific research to back them up. This is not the case with carnosine. While research on carnosine's effects on cataracts is still in its early stages, research has proven to compound to have significant anti-aging effects and treatment benefits over the years. One study showed that carnosine was able to prevent and reverse cataract formation in rats who were exposed to cataract-inducing substances. Another study showed that N-acetylcarnosine, a form of carnosine, was able to prevent cataracts and vision worsening in humans. "

Indeed. If you do see shapes changing, get that looked at pronto.

It can be unevenness in the retina - in my case due to a tumour behind it.

Interesting stuff but it?s pretty old now. (2002). You have to wonder why it isn?t being widely used now if it?s that good?

Tim

Vested interests? Why use inexpensive eye drops when surgery is available? Dinosaur attitude of the medical profession? Who knows? I'm pretty sure the original paper on NAC was 1936...

It may be that it?s just unpatentable (hence unprofitable).

Tim

You may well be right. Micro-nutrients and natural remedies can't be sold at a huge mark-up, so don't get researched. I wonder who gains from this...

The surgeon made a cats arse of my left eye when doing my second cataract operation. He ruptured the bottom of the capsule the new lens was to sit in because he operated over the top of me, the new lens sits bisecting the pupil lower edge. I get diffraction fringes from any point light source and I see a slightly blurred image. A different guy did the perfect right eye and he operated from the side.

I had an eye test about a year ago, and not mentioned.

Not noticed any difference between when there is still daylight, and dark.

OK - I'll try that.

That's what I was wondering. LED blue might be an unusual wavelength in the real world.

Interesting. My last test - about a year ago - was at a local branch of Specsavers. And they prescribed too much 'plus' for my liking, and for driving. Without consulting me. Impossible to tell in the tiny consulting room.

Not got any of that. Just the odd effect of this LED blue. I've got a red LED alarm clock, and that doesn't show the same thing.

I'm slightly long sighted. Original contact lens prescription done over 50 years ago was + 2.2. Optician said because both my eyes were very similar, he'd make them both the same. As rather easy to swap them over by mistake in practice.

At the last test, they increased the plus to 3.5. Which made reading easier (without additional specs) but distance poorer. No use to me as I drive. Settled on 2.5. So hardly any difference in 50 years.

Well over a year in Scotland. Brother went private. Either that, or stop driving.