Sudden Blindness (A New Strain of Maladies)

One day, your vision suddenly falls to nearly zero sight. What
happened? You may have a "Retinal Disease". Millions of people around
the world especially those who are over 50 years old are affected
from this dreadful eye disease.

In the case of Mr. Machida, 45 years old, he noticed that he suddenly
had hard time reading newspapers. All the characters are blurred with
his eyes. He visited his family physician, but was told that he just
needs some rest. He rested for three days but noticed no improvement
with his eyesight, so he decided to visit an ophthalmologist. There
he was told that he would be blind if he leaves it the way it is for
another week or so. So he was treated with "laser photocoagulation".

We think that loss of vision usually gets worse gradually. But there
are cases where sudden loss of vision occurs within a few weeks to a
month. It is recommended that you take an eye exam at least once a
year.

## What are the causes of vision loss?

1. Lens – light-focusing part of the eye
2. Retina – receives the image from the lens
3. Optic nerves – sends the image to the brain

The most common causes of vision loss among the elderly are cataract
and glaucoma. While cataract is caused by the cloudy lens of the eye,
loss of vision in glaucoma is caused by optic nerve problems due to
abnormally high pressure within the eyeball.

However, in the case of Mr. Machida, it was neither cataract nor
glaucoma but a retinal disease.

## Macular Degeneration

At the center of the retina is a small depression from 2.5 to 3 mm in
diameter. This is known as the yellow spot, or "macula", one of the
most vital parts of the eye. Progressive destruction of the macula
will result to "Macular Degeneration" that impairs central vision,
which can make reading and driving impossible.

Why do we need immediate clinical diagnosis? Because it might lead to
total blindness caused by retinal bleeding.

## How to know the symptoms?

Some people experience strange eyesight such as difficulties to see
one particular direction, difficulties to see someone's face or look
as if the person you are talking is faceless, and difficulties to see
the center of a particular sight.

It is dangerous to think that these are all caused by stress,
tiredness, or lack of sleep.

If you experience such strange phenomena with your eyesight, we
recommend you to consult an ophthalmologist immediately.

## The Amsler Grid Test

One of the simplest methods to monitor the health of your macula that
you can do by yourself is the "Amsler Grid Test". The Amsler Grid is
a pattern (either white grid lines on a black background or black
grid lines on a white background) consisting of intersecting lines
(similar to graph paper) with a black or white dot in the middle.

The Amsler Grid can be seen here:
http://www.pyroenergen.com/articles08/images/amsler-grid.gif

How to use an Amsler Grid (repeat for each eye):

Note: If you wear reading glasses, be sure to have them on.

1. Focus at the center dot on the grid with one eye at a time,
covering the other eye with your hand.
2. As you continue to look at the center dot, check to see that all
the surrounding lines are straight and all the squares are evenly
spaced with no missing areas.
3. If any area on the grid appears bent, distorted, blurred,
discolored, or missing, contact your ophthalmologist immediately.

We recommend that you print this Amsler Grid for your eye checkup.

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About the Author:
Junji Takano is a Japanese health researcher involved in
investigating the cause of various diseases since 1960. In 1968, he
invented Pyro-Energen, the first electromedicine device that
eradicates viral diseases, cancer, and diseases of unknown cause
effectively without side effects.
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