Restore Vision Lost to Macular, RP & Stargardt

BEH PODCAST EPISODE 56 - 8 Things Your Mind Can Help Your Body HealThis is the eighth of eight podcasts, where we have been talking about the different pieces of our Better Eye Health program, more specifically, on what your doctor does not tell you. Your doctor does not tell you these diseases can be improved, that there are things you can do to reverse vision loss, and there are things under your control that make a huge difference in not only your health, but the health of your eyes. 8 Things Your Mind Can Help Your Body Heal. Part 8 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve.056 OMDPodcast 8Things MindBody-8of8CarlyleWelcome to the Organic MD podcast with Dr. Damon Miller. This is Carlyle Coash. How are you doing today, Dr. Miller?Dr. MillerI am happy to tell you that I am doing well today, and I am grateful for that and for today. How about yourself, how are you doing?CarlyleI am still in one piece. I am walking and breathing, mostly. The air quality has been better since all of the fires, but I am still here breathing. Dr. MillerIt is almost like the like icing on the cake, you cannot go out to mingle because of the pandemic. Now, you are not able to even go outside for a walk because the air is so toxic, but what are we going to do? CarlyleSmall victories. Dr. MillerYes, it is.Today is the eighth of eight podcasts, where we have been talking about the different pieces of our Better Eye Health program, more specifically, on what your doctor does not tell you. Your doctor does not tell you these diseases can be improved, that there are things you can do to reverse vision loss, and there are things under your control that make a huge difference in not only your health, but the health of your eyes. We have talked previously about the different pieces to our Better Eye Health Program, like microcurrent stimulation, color therapy, and supplements. We also recommend the elements of Oriental Medicine, like needleless acupuncture and exercises, which are important if you have already developed an eye disease, or if you have a predisposition to it. The piece we have not spent much time talking about is the fact that if you want to make your eyes healthy, you need to take care of your health.This sounds too easy and too good to be true, but the things you do to take care of your health have a huge impact on it. That is a dirty little secret about modern medicine, most of what you can do to be healthy, and even to reverse significant disease, is under your control and based on choices you make every day. We are here to help you make good choices and give you some good information about what you can do to take care of yourself. With western and allopathic medicine, they talk about the body and mind connection, but they do not really know what to do about it. This leaves us with just body, so we are going to be talking not just about your mind, but of your spirit and body. We will go over all the things you can do to take care of these three important pieces. I am going to start by discussing the body because I am an MD, and that is what I was trained in. Then Carlyle will go over the mind and spirit because this is his expertise. He has been working for decades with people on their mind and spirits. The basic thing about our body is pretty simple stuff, eat a decent diet. We should not be eating too many processed foods or sugar. If you drink alcohol, it is toxic to the brain and eyes, so you should stop drinking. The same goes for smoking cigarettes, they impair the circulation to your brain and eyes, so you should stop smoking. This is especially true if you area already impaired by a disease; these can all make it worse. You can find out more about what eating a decent diet is, by doing our Healthy Eating Workshop. We should do whatever it takes, even if it means giving up alcohol and smoking. We can talk about alcohol in moderation because everyone has a different idea of what moderation is.

BEH Podcast 54 - 8 Things Your Doctor is Not Telling You About Your Eye Disease, Part 6 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve. In this podcast, we are going to jump in with both feet and talk about a subject that is at the core of our work in the Better Eye Health program. There are powerful tools that support regeneration, and it is important to understand the notion of how you can help your eyes if you do have a serious retinal challenge, like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt’s disease, etc.I am not some magic sorcerer that has a way to take cells that are damaged and replace or repair them. I do know the body knows how to do this; your body can help you heal your eyes. I cannot heal your eyes, but I can help your body have the tools and resources it needs. We make sure everything that needs to be working is working, so your body can heal your eyes. 8 Things Your Doctor is Not Telling You About Your Eye Disease, Part 6 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve. 009_OMDPodcast_8Things_RegenerationCarlyleWelcome to the Organic MD podcast with Dr. Damon Miller, and myself, Carlyle Coash. Welcome back Dr. Miller, how are you doing?Dr. MillerI am good, it is good to hear your voice Carlyle. CarlyleIt is good to hear yours.Dr. MillerI really enjoy doing this, it is a good day for a podcast. Today we are going to jump in with both feet and talk about a subject that is at the core of our work in the Better Eye Health program. There are powerful tools that support regeneration and it is important to understand the notion of how you can help your eyes if you do have a serious retinal challenge, like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt’s disease, etc.I am not some magic sorcerer that has a way to take cells that are damaged and replace or repair them. I do know the body knows how to do this; your body can help you heal your eyes. I cannot heal your eyes, but I can help your body have the tools and resources it needs. We make sure everything that needs to be working is working, so your body can heal your eyes. Through research, we now know when something gets regenerated in your body, it involves our adult stem cell system. We are born with this elegant system, full of stem cells that are able to go where damage has occurred and help is needed. Your adult stem cells completely restore and regenerate, leaving the cells that were damaged, like new. You have the best stem cell system in the body and we are here to help you support your own stem cell system. We have seen it work and now we understand why it works. The results are far better than anything recorded, like injecting stem cells. CarlyleStem cells work from birth until death. There may be times when they slow down, and not work as well or be as effective, but they are always doing something. Take cutting your finger, for example. After it is cut, your finger heals and this is your stem cell system working. Dr. MillerExactly, breaking a bone is a great example too. CarlyleBasically, all of the tissues in our body regenerate numerous times throughout our lives because your system is constantly working. It can be hard to realize, but our body has so much going on and is always doing so much for us. Dr. MillerOur body is constantly regenerating and repairing the parts of us that need fixing, but we only found out recently this is true for every tissue in our body. It was not that long ago that I was in medical school where we were taught the brain and the central nervous system tissues, like the eyes and spinal cord, do not regenerate. It was taught that you are born with a certain number of cells and that is it. Through Nobel Prize awarded research, it is now understood all of these cells and tissues regenerate. The cells in your brain and eyes are turning over at least every ten years, possibly more often. These are the most complex tissues in the body and they do not repair or regenerate quickly, but are capable of it.

BEH PODCAST EPISODE 55 - 8 Things Your Doctor is Not Telling You About Your Eye Disease, Part 7 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve. This is the seventh of eight talks that we are putting together about the eye work we do to help people who have chronic degenerative eye conditions, like macular and retinal dystrophies. Some of the specific names include macular degeneration, Stargardt’s disease, retinitis pigmentosa, and cone rod dystrophy. We also help people who have severe glaucoma and separated retinas. Our eyes need a lot of support to be able to heal itself because it can. Today, we will be talking about the genetics behind these diseases. Especially, the idea that your genes are not your destiny. Let me say it again, your genes are not your destiny.  8 Things Your Doctor is Not Telling You About Your Eye Disease, Part 7 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve. 055_OMDPodcast_8Things_Genes-Not-Your-Destiny-7of8CarlyleWelcome to the Organic MD podcast with Dr. Damon Miller. This is Carlyle Coash. How are you doing today, Dr. Miller?Dr. MillerI am doing pretty well during these tough times, by the grace of whatever. History will look back on this time, shake its head and wonder how we all got through it. I am grateful to be here because we are going to be talking about some important things. It is good to hear your voice, are you doing well?CarlyleI am holding up, as you said, by whoever is handing out grace. It seems to be helping to, at least, get through the day.Dr. MillerThis is the seventh of eight talks that we are putting together about the eye work we do to help people who have chronic degenerative eye conditions, like macular and retinal dystrophies. Some of the specific names include macular degeneration, Stargardt’s disease, retinitis pigmentosa, and cone rod dystrophy. We also help people who have severe glaucoma and separated retinas. Our eyes need a lot of support to be able to heal itself because it can. Today, we will be talking about the genetics behind these diseases. Especially, the idea that your genes are not your destiny. Let me say it again, your genes are not your destiny. Carlyle and I have been working with people for a couple decades now, and we see people in all different types of domains of their life. What we find of most people is they assume if it runs in their family; they will have and do the same thing their parents did. Your genes are not your destiny.CarlyleInstead of medical hexing, like we have talked about, we can say it is like a family or gene hexing. As opposed to seeing the pattern and looking to change it. Dr. MillerI see people respond to it if we can put it in some familiar ways. Without getting into a significant talk about genetics and epigenetics, consider the most common of these eye problems. Take the most common form of macular degeneration, called age related macular degeneration or ARMD. As it says in the name, the degeneration shows up in people when they are in their 60s, 70s, or 80s. From the time they are kids to the time they retire, there are no problems with their eyes. All of a sudden, their eyes start to fall apart. You need to be asking yourself if these diseases have a strong underpinning of some genetic predisposition, meaning you have a gene that predisposes you to the disease. We know that almost everybody who gets macular degeneration has some sort of abnormal gene. How is it that you can live to be 60, 70, or 80 years old, and have no idea that you have any kind of a genetic problem? You have had the gene from birth and your body has kept it suppressed. If it starts to rear its head, your body is able to fix things faster than they could break. This is true of many other diseases. Another bit of data that is interesting are the genetic testing kits, which look for genetic abnormalities. It is so common now, for only $90 you can get an at-home test kit that shows you any tendencies you may have for all these different dispositions.

BEH PODCAST EPISODE 53 - 8 Things Your Doctor is Not Telling You About Your Eye Disease, Part 5 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve. In this episode, we are covering toxicity, which is part five of the eight part series about things your doctor does not tell you when you are diagnosed a retinal disease, like macular degeneration, Stargardt’s, or retinitis pigmentosa. Toxicity is something I wrestle with while talking with people in my office all the time. It is not the cause of a disease, it is an obstacle to getting better, no matter what kind of health problem. No matter what you are doing, toxicity gets in the way and it can stoep any progress from happening. It has to be addressed. People wonder all the time if they are toxic, but how do you find out? 8 Things Your Doctor is Not Telling You About Your Eye Disease, Part 5 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve. 053_OMDPodcast_8Things_Toxicity-5 of 8Carlyle Welcome to the organic MD podcast with Dr. Damon Miller, and me, Carlyle Coash. Welcome back to our interesting, ongoing conversation about bettering your health. How are you doing today, Dr. Miller?Dr. Miller I am doing well today. We are recording this while the great fires in Northern California are happening. It is bad enough that we are stuck here because of social distancing due to the pandemic, but it is almost dangerous to walk outside. It is getting better, and it is a good day to record a podcast. Today, we are covering toxicity, which is part five of the eight part series about things your doctor does not tell you when you are diagnosed a retinal disease, like macular degeneration, Stargardt’s, or retinitis pigmentosa. Toxicity is something I wrestle with while talking with people in my office all the time. It is not the cause of a disease, it is an obstacle to getting better, no matter what kind of health problem. No matter what you are doing, toxicity gets in the way and it can stoep any progress from happening. It has to be addressed. People wonder all the time if they are toxic, but how do you find out? There was a large study done to help find the toxins we have in our bodies. The study group consisted of hundreds of people, who were all seemingly healthy. They chose a healthy group of people to study toxins in, so they would have a control group to compare with those who have a disease or illness. Samples of everything were taken, stool, urine, spit, hair, and even skin biopsies. They tried to get as much information they could possibly obtain and came up with a list of about 150 toxins. The results were astonishing. Everyone had every toxin on the list, and in dangerously large amounts. This sparked a lot of interest in toxicity when the results were published in 2000 and doctors wanted to know if their clients were full of toxins. It was a mini industry for a number of years and some of the centers where the study was taken, put an elaborate test kit together. Doctors would get these kits with different tubes, vials, and envelopes to gather all the information from their clients; everything would then get sent back to the centers. This kit cost about $4,000 and you would get a 13-page printout back showing the results. This did not last for long because every test came back completely positive for toxins, everyone is full of toxins.This is a long conversation and we have a course on Do It Yourself, Detox. This first piece of work helps you mobilize the toxins in your body because they need to be shaken loose from where they have been stuck. This will help you from being sick while the toxins are floating around until your body can figure out a way to excrete them out. The toxins that are stuck are for a good reason and if it cannot deal with something it buries it in your solid organs, bones, tissues, brain, spinal cord, and in your eyes. This is so the toxins are not freely floating around your body, poisoning you; it is poisoning wherever it is stationed though.

BEH PODCAST EPISODE 52 - 8 Things Your Doctor is Not Telling You About Your Eye Disease, Part 4 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve.Today, this is the fourth of eight podcasts on Organic MD. We will discuss our Better Eye Health program that helps people with serious eye diseases, like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and Stargardt’s disease. We have a very effective program for stopping and reversing the progression of these diseases. To some extent, allowing people to get vision back that has been lost. I want mention how important your diet is – what you choose to eat and how you eat it, not just taking supplements. Our title of this podcast, the benefits that come from improving your diet can go beyond your wildest dreams, says it all.8 Things Your Doctor is Not Telling You About Your Eye Disease, Part 4 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve.007_OMDPodcast_8Things_DietCarlyleWelcome to the Organic MD podcast with Dr. Damon Miller. I am Carlyle Coash. How are you doing today Dr. Miller? Dr. MillerI am doing well today. I am very grateful. We are in a time where we get to spend more time listening to podcasts. Grateful for that and making our offering here. Today, this is the fourth of eight podcasts on Organic MD. We will discuss our Better Eye Health program that helps people with serious eye diseases, like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and Stargardt’s disease. We have a very effective program for stopping and reversing the progression of these diseases. To some extent, allowing people to get vision back that has been lost. I want mention how important your diet is – what you choose to eat and how you eat it, not just taking supplements. Our title of this podcast, the benefits that come from improving your diet can go beyond your wildest dreams, says it all.CarlyleI would agree. We talked a last time about my dad making his diet choice. Among other thing he did, the main shift was what he ate and how he ate it. From the time he made the change to the next 30 plus years, he kept to it. There were times he may stray and have a meal that was a little more heavy or cheesy. He would suffer a little, but would say it was worth it because he did not get to eat it that often. He was suffering at the other side of it though. You have talked about this many times over the years, your health can start reflecting the types of food we are eating and putting into our system. Our body works with what we give it, to some extent. If you are giving your body not-so-great-things, it will do the best it can to process them, but your body may take a hit for it. Dr. MillerYour dad was motivated. The doctor said he could lose some weight, but they would end up doing surgery anyway to take out his gallbladder. Your dad wanted to try losing the weight first. This is the basic philosophy here at Organic MD – when you have multiple things to try, go with the safe ones that easy, simple, and cheap. It may take some work, motivation, and effort on your part, but if there are options to surgery, we want to exhaust them. I cannot tell you how many people I have seen go into a fairly simple surgery and come out very scarred or dead. This is also true with a degenerative eye disease, like a retinal disease, or macular degeneration, etc. Will changing your diet reverse these diseases? It is not clear. There are many things you can do to take care of your health that are worth mentioning, in terms of the science behind it. When we talk about macular degeneration, Stargardt’s disease, retinitis pigmentosa, we are talking about problems that almost always have an underlying abnormal gene that predisposes you to it. I choose these words very carefully – predisposes you. Having an abnormal gene does not mean that gene is your destiny. We have another topic we will be talking about in a later podcast called epigenetics. This is the information that sits on top of a gene. The gene is simply the strand of DNA holding the information.

BEH PODCAST EPISODE 51 - 8 Things Your Doctor is Not Telling You About Your Eye Disease, Part 3 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve.We are continuing this series on macular degeneration, and specifically things that we can do around it. Today we are focusing on something you mentioned in the last session, which is really exploring supplements as one of the many things we can do. One of the first things that your ophthalmologist may suggest or do is hand you a little packet of vitamins as they are hustling you out the door. They offer a consolation prize, one piece in an array of things you can do to help reverse the situation of degenerative eye disease.8 Things Your Doctor is Not Telling You About Your Eye Disease, Part 3 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve.004_OMDPodcast_8Things_2-SupplementsCarlyleWelcome to the Organic MD podcast. My name is Carlyle Coash and I am here with Dr. Damon P. Miller II. Hello Dr. Miller.Dr. MillerHey Carlyle, it is good to be hear. CarlyleWe are continuing this series on macular degeneration, and specifically things that we can do around it. Today we are focusing on something you mentioned in the last session, which is really exploring supplements as one of the many things we can do. One of the first things that your ophthalmologist may suggest or do is hand you a little packet of vitamins as they are hustling you out the door. They offer a consolation prize, one piece in an array of things you can do to help reverse the situation of degenerative eye disease. Dr. MillerAt the beginning of each podcast, we will briefly repeat what we covered in our last sessions. To start, the whole focus of this is for you to realize if you, or someone you love or know has one of these retinal diseases: macular degeneration, Stargardt’s disease, retinitis pigmentosa, cone rod dystrophy, etc., that there are things you can do to regain vision lost to these diseases. We know this to be true and we are here to tell you what we know about it, so you can do this for yourself or your loved ones.This is not something your eye doctor is going to say, but it is something we help with all the time. The eye doctors tend to tell you, if they are compassionate and honest, they do not have anything to offer you. There is no drug or surgery. If they are operating more from a typical script, they might say there is nothing that can be done. If they do not have anything to offer you, there is nothing that can be done. There are things that can be done. More recently, one thing the eye doctors do offer after making the diagnosis, like Carlyle was saying, is recommend taking certain vitamins – a brand called, Ocuvite. This is done routinely now because of the ARED Studies. The Age Related Eye Disease Studies is trying to codify what has been seen in research since the 1940s and 50s. A huge body of hundreds and hundreds of peer reviewed papers, looked at what supplements, vitamins, other herbs, etc., that we could do to try and help people with these degenerative eye diseases. The ARED Studies have found, if this is the only intervention you do is take vitamins and supplements, will slow the progression of the disease. These are progressive diseases – they never get better over time, but they do get worse. There is no single vitamin, supplement, or combination of the two that has shown to stop the progression of or reverse the diseases. I stand by that statement. I will say it again, “Vitamins and supplements will slow the progression, but they will not stop the progression of the diseases. They will not reverse the diseases and they do not lead to the recovery of vision that is lasting.” You need to do more. We will be discussing this topic over the next sessions. Today is our second of the eight-part series, and we will be talking about the things you can do. We want to be clear that supplements are necessary, but they are not sufficient. One important thing to keep in mind as we are laying out the program,

BEH PODCAST EPISODE 50 - 8 Things Your Doctor is Not Telling You About Your Eye Disease, Part 2 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve. Welcome to the Organic MD podcast with Dr. Damon Miller. I am Carlyle Coash. We are continuing our discussion about health, wellness, and the things we can do to improve all of these in ourselves. We are going to be talking about what we can do to maintain your health. If there was ever a time to be attending to it, that time is now. Today we will begin talking about our Better Eye Health Program, which will be a total of eight podcasts. We work with people who have serious eye or retinal diseases, like macular degeneration, Stargardt’s disease, and retinitis pigmentosa. Our program has shown to be highly effective for helping people with these diseases. 8 Things Your Doctor is Not Telling You About Your Eye Disease, Part 2 of 8. Hint: Your Vision Can Improve. 050_OMDPodcast_8Things_MedicalHex-2of8Carlyle Welcome to the Organic MD podcast with Dr. Damon Miller. I am Carlyle Coash. We are continuing our discussion about health, wellness and the things we can do to improve all of these in ourselves. How are you today, Dr. Miller?Dr. Miller Hi Carlyle, I am actually pretty good today. We are still in a crazy time in the world, but it is good to be here. We are going to be talking about what we can do to maintain your health. If there was ever a time to be attending to it, that time is now. Today we will begin talking about our Better Eye Health Program, which will be a total of eight podcasts. We work with people who have serious eye or retinal diseases, like macular degeneration, Stargardt’s disease, and retinitis pigmentosa. Our program has shown to be very effective for helping people with these diseases.I want to start by honoring Grace Halloran, PhD. She was a pathfinder of this field and put the ideas of this program together. ​When people are diagnosed with these eye diseases, their stories are pretty consistent. They go to their doctor because they have trouble with their vision. They may have a family history of the disease and their vision is now starting to be affected. The doctor says they have a very serious eye disease, the problem cannot be helped with a new pair of glasses, and there is nothing they have to offer. If a doctor is not open-minded, they will probably say there is nothing that can be done. This is far from true, there is something you can do. We call this medical hexing, when a doctor tells someone there is nothing that will help. People respect their doctors; if they are told nothing can be done, they believe nothing can be done. If they were being honest, they would say there is no drug or surgery they know of. They would recommend taking some vitamins to slow down the progress, but mention no improvement will be seen in their visions over the course of their life. We work with people to improve their vision all the time and we are here to keep all hope alive. We will let you know what you need to do to salvage your vision, keep it from getting worse, and regenerate some of the vision lost. Today we will go over the basic understanding that the things you hear about and are offered by modern medicine do not treat the diseases, they are treat the complications of the diseases. The disease with the worst complications is macular degeneration and everyone who has this disease starts with dry macular degeneration. As the degeneration process continues, the retina eventually reaches a point where the structure and vessels break down; this leads to leaking and bleeding in the retina. We now have wet macular degeneration, formally exudative macular degeneration. Doctors have developed some interesting treatments that try to stop the bleeding and leaking because it can be very destructive. Drugs, like Avastin and Lucentis, are injected directly into your eye with a needle. It does stop the bleeding, but it does not treat the underlying problem.

BEH PODCAST EPISODE 49 We're here today for the first of an eight part series. Don't glaze over, stay with us here. The first of an eight part series soon to be a major book. But we wanted to kind of introduce it in pieces here just to get you going. And if you have or know someone close to to you that has been diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease, things like macular degeneration, that's the most common stargardt disease, which is basically just the juvenile form of macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and then a few other odd ones, cone rod dystrophy and things like that. You know, those are diseases that are now the major causes of blindness in people over 65. And they're diseases that just by, I don't know, by the miracle of how life works, it turns out, we've found in our practice ways to work with those to deal with those and even to reverse the vision loss, that those kinds of diseases cause. And that's really what we're here to talk about. It's not something you're going to hear about from your board certified ophthalmologist. Even if they know about it, they're not going to tell you about it. But they are going to tell you that they don't have anything to offer you. So hopefully you found this podcast you found us because you're not going to accept that there's nothing you can do. You're out there looking And you found us. And so we're here today to begin to tell you about the things you need to know. So that you can heal your vision. 8 THINGS YOUR DOCTOR DOESNT TELL YOU IF YOU HAVE MACULAR DEGENERATION, STARGARDT OR RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA 049_OMDPodcast_8-Things_1_of_8CarlyleHello and welcome to the OrganicMD podcast. My name is Carlyle Coash and I am here with Dr. Damon P. Miller II. How are you doing Damon?Dr. MillerWell, it's an odd time in the world, but I'm doing pretty well. I'm really glad to be here. You sound strong. You sound good. I'm glad to hear that.CarlyleI'm doing what I can. Dr. MillerThank you. Okay, well we're here today for the first of an eight part series. Don't glaze over, stay with us here. The first of an eight part series soon to be a major book. But we wanted to kind of introduce it in pieces here just to get you going. And if you have or know someone close to to you that has been diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease, things like macular degeneration, that's the most common stargardt disease, which is basically just the juvenile form of macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and then a few other odd ones, cone rod dystrophy and things like that. You know, those are diseases that are now the major causes of blindness in people over 65. And they're diseases that just by, I don't know, by the miracle of how life works, it turns out, we've found in our practice ways to work with those to deal with those and even to reverse the vision loss, that those kinds of diseases cause. And that's really what we're here to talk about. It's not something you're going to hear about from your board certified ophthalmologist. Even if they know about it, they're not going to tell you about it. But they are going to tell you that they don't have anything to offer you. So hopefully you found this podcast you found us because you're not going to accept that there's nothing you can do. You're out there looking And you found us. And so we're here today to begin to tell you about the things you need to know. So that you can heal your vision. So, Carlyle, what do you thinkCarlyleIt's essential that we remember that the body has this incredible ability to regenerate to heal itself. If we give it support to do that, and this is something that we're Yes, we're talking about degenerative eye disease, and these next few episodes. This can be applied to so many other things. So the same template, I think, plays out for a lot of different illnesses and issues. And so I think, even if you're like, well, I don't have I don't have this issue. You might actually know someone who does.

BEH PODCAST EPISODE 48 -- Featuring Dr. Damon Miller with Christine Rosche Welcome to the OrganicMD podcast. We're here today. I'm still in the midst of the wildfires in California, and it's become such an issue that Christine Rosche and Dr. Miller decided to get together and devote an entire podcast to dealing with the smoke, with the focus on the kinds of things you can do to protect yourself from the very toxic smoke from these wildfires. The smoke is now blanketing the entire earth! You know, when you're out, if you're, if you're following the air quality index, you know, if the air quality index is 200 parts per million of the small particles, being out in that air for any length of time, it's like smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes a day or more. So it's, it's pretty serious stuff, but there are things you can do. As always you will find the link to the Podcast, as well as the full transcript. You can also download a PDF of the transcript down at the bottom the page. Enjoy!  BEH PODCAST EPISODE 48 - HEALING FROM THE TOXIC WILDFIRE SMOKE Dr. Miller: (00:00)Hi, this is Dr. Damon Miller. Welcome to the OrganicMD podcast. We're here today. I'm still in the midst of the wildfires in California, and, it's become such an issue that we decided to devote an entire podcast to dealing with the toxic smoke, the kinds of things you can do to protect yourself from the very toxic smoke from these wildfires. The smoke is now blanketing the entire earth! You know, when you're out, if you're, if you're following the air quality index, you know, if the air quality index is 200 parts per million of the small particles, being out in that air for any length of time, it's like smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes a day or more. So it's, it's pretty serious stuff, but there are things you can do. Dr. Miller: (00:51)And we're going to talk about that. I'm going to be doing this today, with Christine Rosche. so Christine Rosche is a master of public health and a certified nutritional specialist. And she's, worked for years and years as a specialist with the microbiome and digestive health, is an expert that's developed an integrative approach to health and stress management, and has had over 25 years in this field, including a lot of years recently here in the San Francisco Bay area, working at Stanford. She's written a couple of books, and it's just a really good on this. Now you ask how is a bowel specialist useful here, you want to understand that in most of the major medical systems in the world, besides Western medicine, you know, Vedic medicine, Oriental medicine, and even a lot of the indigenous medicines, there's a clear understanding that the lungs and the gut are linked. The health of one depends on the health of the other. I like the poetry of it in Oriental medicine. The lungs are responsible for bringing in pure energy from heaven and the bowels are responsible for getting rid of everything you don't want. So anyhow, let's, let's just say hi to Christine. Hi Christine. Christine: (02:05)Thank you so much, Damon, and, I'm delighted to be here with you. I also want to introduce Dr. Damon Miller, who is a functional medicine physician in private practice, practicing in Redwood City. And, he's been doing this for many years, since 1985 and detox is an integral part of his practice and helping you with the root cause of your health issues. Dr. Miller: (02:34)Well, thank you. Thank you. So Christine, start us off here. You've been doing a lot of research in preparation for this talk. So, I know we're going to be talking about a number of things, just basically how to protect yourself from the smoke, how to detoxify from the smoke. some things that can be done, in terms of herbs and supplements and, you know, and different kinds of essences and, and how to work with the bow, which we have said is a critical part, keeping your bow functional, healthy, moving, is an important part of all this. So go, go ahead and take, take,

ORGANICMD PODCAST – EPISODE 47 Quarantined and Having a Lot of Emotion? It’s Probably Grief Quarantined and Having a Lot of Emotion? It’s Probably GriefDoes sheltering in place along with the complete collapse of any semblance of your normal life have you feeling a bit dis-spirited? Maybe more than just a bit?Of course it does. If it did not, I would question if you were actually human.Carlyle Coash offers some practical advice on things you can do to manage the emotions in this time. We need to care for our physical and emotional health if we are to come out the other side of this pandemic intact.To your health, and Dose Your D3Go to: https://doseyourd3.comfor some excellent product. The Virus Survival Kit of the supplements we recommend is offered as an option when you go to buy some D3 (D3 is included in the Virus Survival Kit)You can also find the Virus Survival Kit at:https://fx126.infusionsoft.com/app/manageCart/addProduct?productId=102

ORGANICMD PODCAST – EPISODE 46  Support to Have On Hand If You Do Get COVID-19 Infection Support to Have On Hand If You Do Get COVID-19 InfectionAllopathic prescription anti-viral drugs have been pretty ineffective. Integrative medical practices do not rely only on things that are anti-viral, but also take steps to strengthen the host. The virus is a parasite, and you are the host. Human beings have been coexisting with viruses forever, and have very sophisticated systems to defend against invasion of a virus. That’s why we are still here on the planet.The most advanced systems that exist to defeat a viral infection are things you carry around with you wherever you go. You want those systems to be working well, especially in these times.This Podcast outlines some basic products that support immunity, along with some herbal and homeopathic products with anti-viral properties. Together, we have seen the synergy of using these products together work remarkably well in helping people quickly heal from all types of viral infections, and in the short experience we have had with this novel coronavirus, this strategy works for it.To your health, and Dose Your D3Go to: https://doseyourd3.comfor some excellent product. The Virus Survival Kit of the supplements we recommend is offered as an option when you go to buy some D3 (D3 is included in the Virus Survival Kit)You can also find the Virus Survival Kit at:https://fx126.infusionsoft.com/app/manageCart/addProduct?productId=102

ORGANICMD PODCAST - EPISODE 44  Dose Your D3Click to Download Dr. Miller's article on everything you want to know about Dosing Your D3.Supplement with Vitamin D3 to decrease the risk of flu and COVID-19 coronavirus infection. Maintaining an elevated Vitamin D3 blood level is one of the most effective things you can do to protect yourself from infection from the flu virus or the current coronavirus. In this age of the COVID-19 pandemic, one would think that doctors and public health officials would be screaming from the rooftops about the usefulness of everyone doing whatever it takes to keep their Vitamin D status at an optimal level. For most people, all this means is regularly taking a supplement. In the time of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we recommend taking Vitamin D3 supplements year-round.A compelling body of evidence demonstrates the safety and effectiveness of D3 supplementation as a means to increase immunity against colds, flu, and even novel viruses like the COVID-19 virus. This short paper will discuss peer-reviewed literature, dosing recommendations, and safety data on Vitamin D3 supplementation, and provide a short discussion of the biology of Vitamin D3 in human beings.Vitamin D3 is cheap, easy to use, safe, and it works. Even if you already take adequate Vitamin D3, this short paper provides valuable background and useful recommendations.When considering a treatment, doctors are always balancing the risks versus the benefits. When few or no treatments are available, and there is a treatment that is less than 100% proven, but which has zero risk, then it is prudent to use that treatment.For more information, please download and read the PDF, which includes references, and listen to the Podcast. To your health!Vitamin D3 Supplementation Could Reduce Risk of Influenza and COVID-19 InfectionsFrom the Journal NutrientsNutrients 2020, 12, 988; doi:10.3390/nu12040988Click to Download PDF of this article.

The most recent additions to the full DH are two classes. One is the healthy eating workshop. Recent research is shown that recovery from degenerative conditions in the eye and brain is helped by a diet low in sugars and simple carbohydrates and processed foods. The Healthy Eating Workshop introduces a plan for eating that includes those recommendations, and in six weeks puts you on a path to a plan for eating that will serve your eyes for a lifetime. The second course, which you can do at the same time is the "Detoxify Your Body And Your Home" course. We live in a toxic world, and dealing with toxicity has become important for every ill that doctors deal with. We describe this course that lays out how you can start on a simple program to detoxify your body and your home. Link to registration and description of courses

Supplements are very important if you have a degenerative eye disease, or if these diseases run in your family. Over 60 years of research, and thousands of peer-reviewed papers have shown that supplements alone will slow the progression of eye disease, but they will not stop the progression, and they will not restore lost vision. Using the proper supplements, and optimizing your health may be all you need to prevent the development of eye disease if eye disease runs in your family. The Basic Protocol of supplements used in the Better Eye Health Program is our recommendation.

Macular pseudoholes; macular holes; macular fold; macular tear; epiretinal membrane. The ophthalmologists consider all of the above as very different and distinct problems, but we have come to see that they are all simply different forms of structural degeneration of the retina, and are more common than different. Also we have seen all of them improve, even heal with the basic approaches used in the full Better Eye Health Program. The eye can heal, and there is Hope for Sight!

This is the third and final part of our series on autoimmune disease and eye disease. This episode offers the basics of what is needed to manage, even eliminate an autoimmune problem. All autoimmune issues come from an immune system that is over-stimulated. Too much immune stimulation and your body can start producing antibodies that damage your own tissues. The key to reversing this is to reduce the number of things challenging your immune system. Foods can cause reactions, as can toxins. So, changes in diet, and a rational approach to detoxification can have huge benefits.

Part Two of the discussion on autoimmunity continues. In the work to reduce the challenges to our immune system, it is important to deal with chronic infections. For many, the challenge is centered in their gut. An unhealthy mix of microbes in the gut makes the gut unhealthy, and spills over into the body, causing inflammation and causing immune reactions. Careful attention to gut health is critical if your goal is to heal an autoimmune problem.

Autoimmunity is a big problem in health these days. It is not the cause of your eye challenges, but it makes it harder to heal. Dr. Miller talks about how keeping your wellness - especially in regards to toxins - can prove to play an important role in how you calm your immune system, rebuild tissue and reverse degenerative eye disease. This episode is the first of a three-part series.

Tens of millions of people with degenerative retinal diseases like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt disease hold the same story. When they were first diagnosed their doctor told them that there was nothing that could be done to stop the vision loss or restore lost vision. Maybe they were given some samples of eye vitamins, but nothing else. There is more you can do. Much more. Your doctor has no drug or surgery to offer, but there are proven therapies you can start now that can stop the progression of the disease, even restore lost vision. If you take your doctor's advice and just do nothing? The natural history of these diseases is well understood, and it always involves things getting worse over time. Need a dose of hope? Read Grace Halloran, PhD's autobiography "Amazing Grace: Portrait Of A Survivor" To learn more about the program she developed, go to this link. To order a copy of her autobiography for just the cost of postage, go here.

We address the confusion some people have about wet versus dry macular degeneration. Hint: they are the same disease. All wet macular degeneration begins as dry macular degeneration. Wet (or exudative) macular degeneration is a more advanced stage of dry (non-exudative) macular degeneration. The leaking and bleeding found in wet macular degeneration are simply complications found in more advanced stages of the disease. The injections and treatments offered if you have macular degeneration treat only these complications. They do not treat the underlying disease, and they are not intended to improve vision. Link to the full Better Eye Health Program™More important is the fact that both wet and dry macular degeneration respond well to the support offered in the Better Eye Health Program™, with studies showing that people with both types can see lasting improvements in their vision. There is Hope for Sight!™

When you read about research into new treatments for conditions like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt disease, you may hear about clinical trials and wonder if these are something that might help you. We discuss the long history of clinical trials for the treatment of eye disease. Our general recommendation based on long experience is to not rush to join any clinical trial, for two reasons. One is that almost all of the new treatments being researched involve significant risks. Until there is good data that the treatment offers real and lasting benefits that far outweigh the risks, don't be in a hurry to try it. Second, while you are waiting for medical research to find a magic bullet that will reverse serious degenerative eye disease, you can start a proven program of treatment where over 90% of people see lasting improvements in their vision. Link to Better Eye Health Program™

Supplementing a healthy diet with vitamin and mineral supplements is recommended for all people with degenerative retinal diseases like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt disease. Eye doctors recommend some form of vitamins for all their clients. However, vitamins alone will not stop the progression of these challenging problems. Vitamins alone will not restore lost vision. Other therapies in combination with vitamins can help restore lost vision but vitamins alone will not. Hundreds of peer-reviewed medical articles prove this. Here is a link to a list of the vitamins we recommend in the Better Eye Health Program™ protocol of basic supplements.

Losing your memory? Afraid of where this is leading to as you age? We propose that you have two choices: (1.) Wait for medicine to develop a drug or some other magic bullet. Could happen in the next 10 years. Or not. (2.) Start now to pursue with a vengeance all of the things that doctors are proposing as ways to improve brain health, improve memory and even reverse dementia. This podcast lays out the areas of research and the healthy practices that have been shown to improve brain health and memory. Note-search for "reversing cognitive decline" at OrganicMD dot com for a detailed description of the things you can do now, available as a downloadable PDF.

In the full Better Eye Health Program™, we have perfected a system of acupressure or needleless acupuncture that we call the Acu-Eye™ Program. You learn to stimulate the points in the program yourself, in your own home. The techniques of Oriental medicine have great value in helping people challenged by degenerative eye diseases like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt disease and glaucoma. Acupuncturists find that an aggressive micro-acupuncture treatment program can help when the treatments are done several times a day for one or two weeks, repeating this several times a year. Doing the Acu-Eye™ Program on a regular basis week after week in your home brings results that equal the more intense treatments that require weeks of travel every year. Combine the Acu-Eye™ Program acupressure treatments with the microcurrent stimulation, color therapy, eye health exercises in support from the Better Eye Health Program™ and you have a program that has been proven to improve vision and 90% of the people who do it. This is a three-part podcast, and this is part three. Link to? Acupuncture article.…… Link to full Better Eye Health Program™ description

In the full Better Eye Health Program™, we have perfected a system of acupressure or needleless acupuncture that we call the Acu-Eye™ Program. You learn to stimulate the points in the program yourself, in your own home. The techniques of Oriental medicine have great value in helping people challenged by degenerative eye diseases like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt disease and glaucoma. Acupuncturists find that an aggressive micro-acupuncture treatment program can help when the treatments are done several times a day for one or two weeks, repeating this several times a year. Doing the Acu-Eye™ Program on a regular basis week after week in your home brings results that equal the more intense treatments that require weeks of travel every year. Combine the Acu-Eye™ Program acupressure treatments with the microcurrent stimulation, color therapy, eye health exercises in support from the Better Eye Health Program™ and you have a program that has been proven to improve vision and 90% of the people who do it. This is a three-part podcast, and this is part two. Link to? Acupuncture article.…… Link to full Better Eye Health Program™ description

In the full Better Eye Health Program™, we have perfected a system of acupressure or needleless acupuncture that we call the Acu-Eye™ Program. You learn to stimulate the points in the program yourself, in your own home. The techniques of Oriental medicine have great value in helping people challenged by degenerative eye diseases like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt disease and glaucoma. Acupuncturists find that an aggressive micro-acupuncture treatment program can help when the treatments are done several times a day for one or two weeks, repeating this several times a year. Doing the Acu-Eye™ Program on a regular basis week after week in your home brings results that equal the more intense treatments that require weeks of travel every year. Combine the Acu-Eye™ Program acupressure treatments with the microcurrent stimulation, color therapy, eye health exercises in support from the Better Eye Health Program™ and you have a program that has been proven to improve vision and 90% of the people who do it. This is a three-part podcast, and this is part one. Link to? Acupuncture article.…… Link to full Better Eye Health Program™ description

You need minerals. You need a mineral supplement that is separate from and taken separately from your vitamins. We recommend products that contain humic and fulvic minerals, extracted from ancient plant sources, made in the United States. Vitality boost HA contains a mix of humic minerals (a colloid) and fulvic minerals (a solution) extracted from the same raw materials. It is the most concentrated product we offer, and the best value. They are dark, but virtually tasteless. Energy boost contains just the soluble materials. These also include amino acids that help regulate gut health, among other things. Pale yellow and clear, most people find these easy to take. If you need to mineralize the water you drink, this is the product we recommend. Immune boost is simply a 50-50 mix of the vitality boost HA and energy boost products. Link to minerals in the store.

Yes, more oxygen helps your eyes. There are so many ways to do this. We have seen people with macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt disease benefit from a regular practice of mindful breathing, breathing slower and more fully than you usually do. People also report benefits with more aggressive therapies such as hyperbaric oxygen or high tension oxygen therapy with 8 L per minute via a mask or nasal cannula. Finally, there is a treatment called Exercise With Oxygen Therapy (EWOT), if you have access to the equipment.

Taurine is in the basic protocol of eye supplements in the Better Eye Health Program™ because it is a raw material the body needs to repair and regenerate eye cells. Much of the regeneration and repair the body does occurs when we sleep, so we recommend you take taurine before bedtime, so it is in your blood and your body needs it. Also, taurine has been shown to support healthy sleep.

We recommend you do the eye health exercises in the Better Eye Health Program™ once a day, five days a week to start. If you want to do these exercises twice a day please do. No harm. Some people find these exercises relaxing, and will repeat them if stressed, or before bed to help sleep. If you have a lot of extra time in your day to devote to eye health, we recommend adding other healthy activities like walking, yoga, Pilates, Qi gong etc. Anything you do to benefit your overall health will benefit the health of your eyes.

Caffeine is a complex drug. It can both decrease and increase blood flow to the eyes and brain. For most, the stimulation caused by caffeine leads to an increase in sympathetic activity in our nervous system, which tends to decrease blood flow to the eyes and brain.

Taurine is an amino acid critical for rebuilding cells in the retina. It is often used to support healthy sleep. If you feel that taurine is affecting your sleep, please consult with your practitioner, as it is more likely that there is another explanation to be found.

Modern LED flatscreen TVs and computer screens and the new LED lighting that is now widely used all cause a particular type of strain in the eyes. Bright screens and lighting cause some strain, but LED lighting can actually be harmful to the eyes. Harmful radiation comes from the blue LEDs found in all computer screens and LED-light bulbs. Unlike older incandescent bulbs and mini fluorescent bulbs and older cathode ray tube computer monitors, the blue LEDs emit high frequency and high-energy blue spectrum light has been shown to damage the chemical 11-cis-retinal in the eye and the enzymes that manufacture 11-cis-retinal. 11-cis-retinal is the chemical that allows us to see. The solution is to wear orange or nicotine colored tinted glasses that block the blue rays, or adjust the output of the computer monitor to decrease the blue radiation.

The ideas many people have about the need for bilberry for eye health are, to put it mildly, pretty confused. Bilberries are simply a wild variety of blueberries. The frozen wild blueberries or organic blueberries in our local Trader Joe's food store have a nutritional profile very similar to bilberries. A healthy food, but nothing about the nutritional value of bilberries or blueberries is unique. Some of the confusion comes from claims the English made during World War II that they had developed a "secret weapon" to allow their pilots to see at night, and to bomb the German army in the dead of night. After the war, it was revealed that the "secret weapon" was bilberry jam, and that the whole story was an elaborate propaganda scheme to put fear into German soldiers and citizens. 90% of the people who do the full Better Eye Health Program™ see significant and lasting improvement in their vision, and they are not taking bilberry, so we know it is not essential for eye health or eye healing.

Everyone needs DHA, and most of us need more than we are getting. DHA is one of the essential fatty acids, meaning human beings need to eat it, since they cannot make it. DHA is an omega-3 essential fatty acid with a carbon chain containing 20 carbon atoms. (The "docosa" in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is the Greek word for 20.) We get DHA directly from eating algae, or from eating things that exist in the food chain that begins with algae, like krill and fish. Most of the omega-3 essential fatty acids in our diet come from plant sources, and these have a carbon skeleton with 16 or 18 carbon atoms, i.e. linolenic acid. Human beings can convert smaller chain omega-3 fatty acids to the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids like DHA, but for every milligram of DHA we make in this internal conversion process, we need to eat 1000 mg of a shorter chain essential fatty acid. One quarter of the weight of our retina and brain is DHA! If you are trying to regenerate damaged tissues in your eyes, eat more DHA regularly.

If you have a degenerative retinal condition like macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa or Stargardt disease, then there is a decrease in healthy blood flow to the retina as the degeneration progresses. If your intention is to regenerate your retina and restore vision, you need more than supplements. But, supplements like ginkgo biloba that gently open the circulation in the small to medium size vessels can help in combination with other therapies. Remember, no one supplement or combination of supplements has ever been shown to stop degeneration in the eyes or restore vision. But supplements, together with therapies like microcurrent stimulation, acupressure (needleless acupuncture), eye health exercises, color therapy, stress management, improved nutrition and detoxification together can regenerate damaged tissues and restore vision.

Taurine is an amino acid the body uses to build proteins and enzymes. The highest concentrations of taurine in human beings are found in the eye and the heart. Animal proteins are the best foods to eat to find taurine. Taurine is classified as a "conditionally essential" amino acid, meaning the human body can make some from other amino acids. But if you need to heal and regenerate cells in your eye (or heart) you need to take in extra taurine in your food and supplements. If you are vegetarian, please take extra taurine. Hemp seed has good amounts of taurine. We discuss our recommendations for taurine supplements derived from plant sources.In this episode the topic is the product Taurine by Thorne Research. Taurine is an essential amino acid that we don’t always receive through our food or other nutrition intake. We need it but our body does not produce it naturally. Having a good strong source of it helps, once again, to make sure your body has all it needs to the job of healing and repair. It needs all the building materials otherwise it will make a very poor house. Dr. Miller explores in detail this important supplement and how to absorb it most effectively in your routine. 

DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is a long-chain omega-3 essential fatty acid. The word "essential" in human nutrition means you need to eat it, since you cannot make it. The cells of the brain and retina are 50% fatty acids by weight, and half of that is DHA. Half! This means one quarter of your brain and retina by weight is DHA. You can see where we are going with this. If your intention is to heal and regenerate damaged tissues in your retina, a critical raw material your body will need to grow new cells is DHA. You need DHA. We discussed the minimum daily dose studies recommend, and some good sources.In this episode the topic is the product Vitality Boost HA, as well as other mineral supplements. We often lack in essential minerals and even if we eat mineral rich foods it often is not enough to keep our levels up. Dr. Miller goes into some depth regarding the types of minerals we need and how to build a working knowledge of where to find what you need.  

Since the 1950s, ophthalmologists have done the following: (1.) When they make a new diagnosis of macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa or Stargardt disease, they tell the person that they are very sorry, but they have nothing to offer, and their vision will continue to deteriorate. (2.) Before the person leaves the doctors office, they are given a bottle of eye vitamins and told, "Here, take these, they may slow down your vision loss." The AREDS study (age-related eye disease study) was funded by a vitamin manufacturer to allow them to advertise their vitamins as a support for people with macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt disease and other serious eye problems. You need vitamins, and you can do SO much better than the products marketed as AREDS vitamins. We describe the colloidal vitamins we recommend, and why we like them. In this episode the topic is the product Ortho Liquid Multi by Protocol. As with minerals, vitamins are often lacking in our daily diet to the levels that help us heal and stay balanced. Making sure you have a well balanced multi-vitamin, especially one that is liquid for better absorption, is another key to helping your eyes and body become stronger.

Supplements are an important part of the Better Eye Health Program™. (Necessary, but not sufficient) Minerals are best taken away from foods and other vitamins. We use mineral supplements that are very soluble and very well absorbed, even if your gut is less than 100% healthy. Minerals like this are very reactive, forming insoluble complexes with the fats in foods and the various fat-soluble vitamins. We discuss why combination vitamin-mineral products do not serve you. Also, we discussed the difference between humic and fulvic minerals, and the difference between our need for minerals as supplements, and the need for a healthy level of minerals in all the water we drink. You need minerals!In this episode the topic is the product Carlson Super DHA. Having high quality oils, especially Omega-3 oils, is crucial for the functioning of so many systems in the body. It supports health and healing, and yet sadly we often are lacking enough of this important substance. It is usually the case that we have more Omega-6 and 9 in our diet, which does not provide the complete package. Also important is to make sure the oils you do eat come from a clean source. The Carlson brand has long strived to make sure their oil is the best. 

Fish are an excellent food source for the essential fatty acids and DHA needed for eye health. Yet as the oceans become increasingly polluted, there are concerns about the safety of fish as food. We discuss the pros and cons of eating fish. Our conclusion? There are still fish available where the benefits gained from this nutritious food source outweigh the risks.

Lab testing is not required before you start Better Eye Health Program™. This program combines a variety of self-administered therapies to support eye health to allow regeneration of damaged tissues. These therapies also support overall health, and many people report multiple health benefits overall when doing the Better Eye Health Program™. If you are doing the therapies regularly and your eyes are not improving, or you have other health challenges we might later suggest some lab testing. Our goal is your total health, with therapies that are safe for the eyes.

The sun is not your enemy. Some sunlight exposure helps stimulate the production of useful pigments in the retina. Human beings evolved with the sun, and our eyes evolved to expect sun exposure. We discuss times when sunglasses are helpful, but we do not recommend you wear them every time you go outside. If you are very sensitive to sunlight, you may need more lutein in your supplement program.

If you are using the carbon rubber pads to apply microcurrent stimulation for treatment anywhere on your body, we recommend you replace these pads once a year. The carbon pads are reusable, economic and very effective, but they do wear out. Trouble is, you cannot see when they wear out. Making a rubber electrode that will conduct electricity is a high-tech trick. When you run current, even microcurrents through these pads every day, the electrical quality of the material changes. The electrical resistance in the pads increases with use. Eventually, the pads act as insulators, not conductors. Replace the pads every year. If it suddenly seems that your unit is no longer putting out any current, replace the pads as this is likely the issue.

Our basic recommendation for everyone is that they take 40 mg of lutein daily if the product they are using is sourced from the FloraGlo® company in Europe. It is sourced from a different manufacturer, then we recommend 80 mg each day. Lutein helps restore the pigment layer of the retina. If someone is continuing to have problems coping with glare, bright lights at night, bright sunlight or has poor night vision, we recommend they increase their dosage to 60 mg or even 80 milligrams each day if the product has FloraGlo® lutein. If the product does not contained lutein from the FloraGlo® company we recommend the higher dose be 120 to 160 mg per day. If you have macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa or Stargardt disease, you need lutein. Take a dose that matches the dose is shown to be effective in decades of scientific research.

The eye health exercises in the Better Eye Health Program™ are designed to increase mobility in the head, neck and upper chest. This is been shown to increase blood flow in the brain and eyes, which is important for health and healing. To release and relax tight muscles and connective tissue we encourage a process of relaxation. Pulling on tight muscles makes them tighter. We instruct you in the various exercises to breathe in and move till you gently encounter a limit caused by tight muscles. Breathe out, feeling the tight muscles relax. Stay put, breathe in again and as you breathe out, feel a bit more release and relaxation. Release comes easiest on the breath out.

This topic is only of interest to those people with macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa or Stargardt disease using microcurrent stimulation to support the health of their eyes. Microcurrent stimulation is used in medicine to restore the energy in the tissues being treated. When tissues regain their normal level of energy and metabolism they then have the energy they need for repair and regeneration. When treating the eyes, this therapeutic current also causes the retinal cells responsible for sight to respond, and the brain interprets this in the same way as if light had stimulated those cells. Our brain thinks the microcurrent stimulation is some sort of light and reports it as such. If the current is pulsing at nine times per second (9 Hz), then your brain thinks you are seeing a light flashing at nine times a second. But there is no light. People with retinal degeneration due to macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa or Stargardt disease, when they adjust the current for treatment as instructed, may not see flashing. This is okay. There cells are not healthy when they first begin the program, and their eyes will not respond to the microcurrent simulation in the same way that their eyes are not responding normally to light. When people finally start to see the flashing, they know their eyes are starting to heal.

If you are doing microcurrent stimulation as part of the therapy for your eyes, do the minimum recommended by your practitioner. Most practitioners recommend 20 minutes of treatment twice a day. If you are using the newer automatic unit from MicroStim®, the unit is programmed to deliver a five-minute treatment cycle. So, you would do four cycles, twice a day, five days a week. Taking two days off each week is important, and taking a rest from treatment of 1 to 2 weeks every two months is recommended. If you have the luxury of extra time in your day to devote to eye health, we recommend adding other healthy activities like walking, yoga, Pilates, Qi gong etc. Anything you do to benefit your overall health will benefit the health of your eyes.

You're doing the microcurrent stimulation therapy in the Better Eye Health Program™ and you want to know if your eyesight is improving before you get your next eye exam. In this podcast Dr. Miller discusses some simple and common sense things you can do to track the healing in your eyes. If you don't already have one, there is a link where you can print out and Amsler grid to track changes in your visual fields.

You want a healthy digestion if you want health. If you are eating three meals a day, you want two to three bowel movements a day. Some discussion of prebiotics and probiotics, and a brief discussion about the use of bitters.