Illnesses and disabilities

Blindness, macular degeneration and other sight impairment

Category: Illness or disabilaties

Type

Involuntary

Introduction and description

Blindness means not being able to see, but there are very many varieties of blindness from partial blindness to total blindness where there is a complete lack of form or light. Some people see light but no form, some people are blind in one eye, or have parts of the retina damaged and they are thus unable to see in parts of the visual field. So the word actually covers a whole host of possible means of sensory deprivation from total to partial. Furthermore the person may have become blind over time or be born blind.

Sight impairment on the other hand is an inability to focus on an object without rectifying glasses. Thus without glasses there is a form of vision, but it may be almost formless, blurred and incapable of being interpreted.

Macular degeneration, or age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a degeneration of the macula - the centre of the visual field - because of damage to the retina. It is a condition that usually affects older adults and is a major cause of blindness and visual impairment in older adults (>50 years). Macular degeneration can make it difficult or impossible to read or recognize faces, although enough peripheral vision remains to allow other activities of daily life.

All three can result in spiritual experiences of various sorts.

What is damaged?

Lina a little Kenyan schoolgirl, with 60% vision; see the references

below for more photos of her schoolmates and what it means to have

partial sight

Blindness and sight impairment can be due to damage to the eye, optic nerve or damage to parts of the brain.

Damage to the eye - Injuries and cataracts affect the eye itself, as can birth defects and albinism

Optic nerve - abnormalities such as optic nerve hypoplasia affect the nerve bundle that sends signals from the eye to the back of the brain, which can lead to decreased visual acuity.

Brain damage - People with injuries to the occipital lobe of the brain can, despite having undamaged eyes and optic nerves, still be legally or totally blind. Cortical blindness is the total or partial loss of vision in a normal-appearing eye caused by damage to the visual area in the brain's occipital cortex. Patients have no vision but the response of the pupil to light is intact (as the reflex does not involve the cortex). Frequently, patients with cortical blindness will either not be able to identify an item being questioned about at all, or will not be able to provide any details other than colour or perhaps general shape. This indicates that the visual center of the brain is unable to interpret input from the eyes.

The WHO estimates that in 2002 there were 161 million visually impaired people in the world (about 2.6% of the total population). Of this number 124 million (about 2%) had low vision and 37 million (about 0.6%) were blind. In order of frequency the leading causes were

cataract,
uncorrected refractive errors (near sighted, far sighted, or an astigmatism),
glaucoma, and
age-related macular degeneration.

According to WHO estimates, the most common types of blindness around the world in 2002 were due to:

cataracts (47.9%) – Cataract are responsible for more than 22 million cases of blindness in the developing world.
glaucoma (12.3%) - glaucoma has blinded 6 million people in the developing world
age-related macular degeneration (8.7%)
corneal opacity (5.1%) - Central corneal ulceration is a significant cause of monocular blindness worldwide, accounting for an estimated 850,000 cases of corneal blindness every year in the Indian subcontinent alone. As a result, corneal scarring from all causes now is the fourth greatest cause of global blindness
diabetic retinopathy (4.8%)
childhood blindness (3.9%) - 500,000 develop active corneal involvement, and half of these go blind.

Types of spiritual experience

There are three main types of experience that appear to be common in the blind or partially sighted.

Hallucinations - In some cases what the person sees is an hallucination – a superimposition of something that does not exist physically onto the field of vision.
Vision - In some cases the person receives a ‘vision’ where the entire ‘field of vision’ is filled with something that does not exist physically
‘Out of body’ – In descriptions of this capability it is occasionally referred to as Blindsight’ but it is actually an out of body experience. Some people are able to ‘see’ actual physical objects with clarity even though they may be blind or partially sighted. This latter form of spiritual experience has been of great interest – naturally – to those involved with the blind medically, but has caused great controversy.

In a sense, if one could train all partially sighted or blind people to have spiritual experiences, they would no longer be 'blind', they would be able to 'see', it is a different kind of seeing as Jacques Lusseyran found out, but it is still not a world of 'nothing' visually.

This is Your Brain on Music – Professor Daniel Levitin
The scientific literature has recently featured articles on people whose visual pathways were cut, but who can ‘see’. Although they aren’t consciously aware of seeing anything – in fact they claim to be blind – they can still orient towards objects and in some cases identify them

Causes

You cannot cure blindness [unless you are Jesus] once a person has it, you can only provide as much support to help the blind live as near normal lives as possible, and we have made fantastic strides in doing just that with guide dogs, 'talking books', braille, schools that accomodate partially sighted or blind children, and corrective glasses. As a wearer of corrective glasses, I am deeply grateful to the inventor of lens grinding and glasses making - as I can neither read, nor walk about the house without them. But ideally we should also be trying to find the cause of blindness and sight deterioration in order that fewer people suffer from it.

Numerous causes of blindness have been identified, for example:

Physical injury and surgery

Eye injuries are one of the main causes of monocular blindness (vision loss in one eye) in the United States, but elsewhere blinding has been used as an act of vengeance and torture in some instances. "Having crushed the Bulgarians, the Byzantine Emperor Basil II blinded as many as 15,000 prisoners taken in the battle, before releasing them". On a less frightening, but equally relevant level, surgery also contributes:

....decreased visual acuity and loss of visual ability .. are, although uncommon, anesthesiological and surgical complications. [and] sildenafil, surgery and anesthesia, taken together, could be a potentially dangerous cocktail of risk factors for sudden irreversible loss of vision. PMID: 17045413

Inherited genes

Vision loss is one part of Bardet-Biedl,

the rare syndrome that Lucy has

Recent advances in mapping of the human genome have identified some genetic causes of low vision or blindness. I will now quote "One such example is Bardet-Biedl syndrome. Leber's congenital amaurosis can cause total blindness or severe sight loss from birth or early childhood. Leber Congenital Amaurosis damages the light receptors in the retina and usually begins affecting sight in early childhood, with worsening vision until complete blindness around the age of 30". But this is not a cause, it is another name for medics to remember. What caused the faulty gene?

And these scientists didn't know. But the following may be responsible...... classified as a toxin, - the nanoparticle - invented by scientists and being released into the environment by scientists in the belief that they do no harm, except that yet other researchers have realised they do a lot of harm......

....DNA damage occurs chemically or physically by nanomaterials. Chemical and physical damage are associated with point mutation by free radicals and double strand brake, respectively. The failure of DNA repair and accumulation of mutations might occur when inflammation is prolonged, and finally normal cells could become malignant. These free radicals can not only damage cells but also induce signaling molecules containing immunoreaction. Nanoparticles and asbestos also induce the production of free radicals. .... Taken together,... a variety of diseases [may be] induced by nanomaterials. PMID: 25097864

Parasites

Cats - a blessing and a curse

The role of parasites in developing countries in producing blindness and sight impairment is well-known.

Water-borne parasites are most often the culprits of blindness - river blindness, for example. Onchocerciasis also known as river blindness and Robles' disease, is a parasitic disease caused by infection by Onchocerca volvulus , a nematode (roundworm). Onchocerciasis is the world's second-leading infectious cause of blindness.

It blinds approximately 1 million individuals worldwide. Many of these parasites cause general brain damage, not just blindness....

Schistosomiasis japonica has a long history in the Philippines. In 1975, 24 endemic provinces were identified in the northern, central, and southern islands of the Philippines. More than five million people were at risk, with approximately one million infected. In 2003, new foci of infection were found in two provinces in the north and central areas. For the past 30 years, human mass drug administration (MDA), utilizing the drug praziquantel, has been the mainstay of control in the country. Recent studies have shown that the schistosomiasis prevalence ranges from 1% to 50% within different endemic zones. Severe end-organ morbidity is still present in many endemic areas, particularly in remote villages with poor treatment coverage. Moreover, subtle morbidities such as growth retardation, malnutrition, anemia, and poor cognitive function in infected children persist. There is now strong evidence that large mammals (e.g. water buffaloes, cattle) contribute significantly to disease transmission, complicating control efforts. Given the zoonotic nature of schistosomiasis in the Philippines, it is evident that the incidence, prevalence, and morbidity of the disease will not be controlled by MDA alone. There is a need for innovative cost-effective strategies to control schistosomiasis in the long term. PMID: 24211228

Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. The parasite infects most genera of warm-blooded animals, including humans, but the primary host is the felid (cat) family - see Being with cats.

Two thirds of the congenital toxoplasmosis cases describe minimal or inapparent symptoms present at birth, ...... Chorioretinitis or focal necrotizing retinitis usually develops in a bilateral way, being progressive and leading to blindness. Usually there is only one focal inflammatory beginning at the edge of a pigmented scar and the local inflammatory process may extend through successive spikes in other regions of the retina. Active chorioretinitis is expressed clinically by a blurred misty eyesight, with the advent of scotomas, photophobia, and if the macula is involved, the loss of the central eyesight may occur. PMID: 25145122

Another serious carrier of parasites is the fox which spreads Echinococcosis. In countries where dogs and cats are not wormed and their faeces safely disposed of, domestic dogs and cats can also be a problem. This parasite can also cause brain damage and blindness.

Toxins and heavy metals

Blindness can be caused by the intake of certain chemicals. A well-known example is methanol, which is only mildly toxic and minimally intoxicating, but when not competing with ethanol for metabolism, methanol breaks down into the substances formaldehyde and formic acid which in turn can cause blindness, an array of other health complications, and death. Methanol is commonly found in methylated spirits, denatured ethyl alcohol, to avoid paying taxes on selling ethanol intended for human consumption. Methylated spirits are sometimes used by alcoholics as a desperate and cheap substitute for regular ethanol alcoholic beverages.

But are they safe?..........

But this is but one small example of the toxins that can damage the brain. At the moment there is a widespread and worldwide campaign to combat parasites known to cause blindness, such as river blindness, but there is also widespread concern that the insecticides and pesticides used to do this, may themselves become a problem in their own right, causing brain damage and sight impairment. There is already evidence that herbicides, insecticides and pesticides can cause blindness and birth defects, for example:

Thirty-five workers became ill after they entered a cauliflower field contaminated with residues of three different insecticides, the organophosphates oxydemeton-methyl (Metasystox-R) and mevinphos (Phosdrin), and a carbamate, methomyl (Lannate). One crew member was pregnant with a 4-week-old fetus. At birth, the 3200-g female infant had multiple cardiac defects, bilateral optic nerve colobomas, microphthalmia of the left eye, cerebral and cerebellar atrophy, and facial anomalies. ...The child died at 14 days of age. PMID: 2583071

Figure 3: Red and yellow clusters mark areas of significantly reduced

brain volume found in subjects with childhood lead exposure.

Cecil et al., 2008 (3).

Both lead and mercury are proven to produce various forms of brain damage, as such they are implicated in the various forms of blindness and macular degeneration produced by brain damage.

In this we should not forget the role of dental amalgam fillings, as they are mercury based. Where a filling is leaking or poor dental work has been undertaken, then the mercury may be the cause.

But fillings are not the only source of mercury, this little boy ended up with cataracts fom mercury from a different source

A case of slight renal tubular dysfunction associated with cataracts and anaemia was diagnosed in a 3-month-old black boy in whom high levels of mercury were found in blood and urine. Several arguments suggest that the renal, ocular and haematological defects may have resulted from exposure to mercury during foetal life and the 1-month lactation period due to the extensive use of inorganic mercury containing cosmetics by the mother. PMID: 3596613

Another source of mercury is the Thiomersal in some Vaccines of which more shortly.

Taking drugs

Whether a drug is legal or illegal seems to be a little arbitrary, however, the taking of presently illegal drugs is a proven cause, for example.......

Septo-Optic Dysplasia (SOD) is a rare disorder with postulated genetic and environmental etiology. Whilst initially considered as a very rare disease (defined as incidence of approx. 1 in 50,000 births) recent data gave a reported incidence of 1 in 10,000, with equal sex distribution. The diagnosis of SOD is predominantly a clinical one, and made with the presence of two or more features of the classic triad: 1) hypopituitarism, 2) optic nerve hypoplasia, and 3) midline brain defects ... The condition is heterogeneous and may also manifest additional brain defects. Although homozygous mutations ...have been identified in SOD, these are uncommon and genetic diagnosis can be made in only < 1% of patients with autosomal recessive inheritance. ... The aetiology of SOD is uncertain but viral infections, environmental teratogens and vascular or degenerative damage have been postulated to account for its sporadic occurrence. Other factors (endogenous or exogenous) include parental age, smoking, alcohol and substance abuse, .... Cocaine abuse during pregnancy, which is a potent vasoconstrictor has recently been identified as a potential external cause. .... Approximately 75-80% of patients exhibit optic nerve hypoplasia, which may be the first presenting feature. PMID: 24802313

Pharmaceuticals

Cataracts

Although emphasis tends to be placed by governmental bodies on illegal drugs as a serious cause of blindness, by far the biggest problem seems to be legal drugs handed out by doctors.

First a liitle food for thought, .....

Since the launch in 1998 of the anti-impotence drug sildenafil (viagra), the American food and drug administration has identified 50 cases of drug-related blindness, the so-called nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. This, very serious, side effect frequently leads to sudden, mostly irreversible loss of vision, and there is no proven effective treatment to cure patients or to prevent recurrence. The mechanism of ischemic optic neuropathy is not clear, but it could be related to the fact that the ophthalmic and central retinal arteries have an autoregulation of their own blood flow without any autonomic nerve supply; vasoreactivity could be lower albeit efficient, and therefore more vulnerable to systemic modifications of the circulation. PMID: 17045413

The eHealthme site collects the Adverse Drug reports submitted by doctors to the FDA and SEDA in the USA. It then summarises them for ease of use.

We originally provided a direct link to all the various forms of blindness and macular degeneration listed on the site and the pharmaceuticals that can cause each one, but the eHealthme website developers frequently reorganise the site and thus break the links. Thus in order to find out which pharmaceuticals are implicated in blindness and macular degeneration in all its various forms

Follow the LINK to the eHealthme website
Using the ‘All conditions’ index find the appropriate entry
Now scroll down until you get to the section marked ‘Drugs that could cause ”

The list shows you all the drugs implicated in CAUSING that form of blindness or macular degeneration as well as the number of people who have made a complaint to their doctor and had their case reported by him. Note that it is up to the doctor whether he reports or not.

At the time of writing the eHealthme site differentiated between a great number of different kinds of eye disease, making it somewhat difficult to see whether a pharmaceutical was the cause. The categories in use at this time include:

Blindness
Blindness - congenital - this is really worrying as to be able to link a pharmaceutical to this in a proven way is extremely difficult, and indicates this could be the tip of a very very big iceberg. One of these is an acne and skin disease treatment
Blindness cortical - Side effects of the anti-epilepsy drugs (AEDs) over time can produce cortical blindness for example
Blindness - day
Blindness - hysterical
Blindness - night - acne and skin disease treatments seem to figure prominently here too
Blindness - transient
Blindness - traumatic
Blindness - unilateral - this list at the time of writing was especially alarming as drugs currently promoted as preventive treatment such as aspirin figure highly, as do drugs such as ACE inhibitors and beta blockers, so if we put this crudely anyone with a poorly heart whose eyes are deteriorating need to look at their drugs as one possible source
Blind spot enlarged
Macular degeneration - again heart drugs figure quite prominently, as do some other very commonly prescribed drugs
Macular fibrosis
Macular holes
Macular ischaemia
Macular oedema
Macular opacity
Macular pigmentation
Macular pseudohole
Macular reflex abnormal
Macular rupture
Macular scarring
Maculopathy
Cataracts- there are some widely prescribed drugs in this list including paracetemol, thyroid disease drugs, ACE inhibitors, beta blockers [with high numbers of ADRs], and aspirin [very high association], drugs for rheumatoid arthritis and other 'autoimmune disorders' [also high], diuretics and quite a number of drugs given to those with heart disease
Cortical cataract
Subcapsular cataract
Traumatic cataract - antibiotics have been implicated here
Cataract universal
Sight disability
Eye degenerative disorder
Eye irritation
Eye inflammation

Taking one of these symptoms at random, as of October 2016, for example, about 900 pharmaceuticals were implicated in causing macular degeneration.

from eHealthme case reports: Age: 75 Gender: male Conditions: Infection Drugs taking: - Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride - EQ 500MG BASE (ciprofloxacin hydrochloride) Side effects have: most severe blind Comments from or about the patient: became blind in right eye after taking 500 mg for 2 days. Then infection in started in both eyes. Now the blood vesssels are growing causing more problems

and

from eHealthme case reports
I have taken Carisoprodol 350 mg for the last 15 years......I am 63 years old and generally in excellent health except for the fact that I began experiencing double vision in 2005 -- diplopia. It has gotten progressively worse and just recently I have been diagnosed with a case of 'Map Dot Fingerprint Dystrophy,' which means that I not only have double vision but a tendency to have my eyes be so sensitive as to burst into corneal abrasions unless I apply a heavy nightly ointment and stinging drops throughout the day. My vision and my eyes seem to be deteriorating.
In recent months I have managed to decrease my nightly dose down to one pill per night, which has been perfectly adequate. As I've had a few projects lately that I've gone back up to two 350 mg tablets per night, thinking I need to extra in order to sleep. The trouble is that my eyes seem to be very becoming more and more fragile. I began to wonder if there might not be a connection with this onset of double vision and my recent problems with spontaneous corneal abrasions from this prolonged use of Carisoprodol for nearly 16 years.
Last night I tried to sleep using only an over-the-counter sleep aid and found, to my great surprise, that I slept quite well. This may be my imagination ..but my eyes seemed less fragile all day today. Also, I have not experienced any withdrawal effects today from last night's experiment and am going to try another night without Carisoprodol. Frankly over the previous years, I have been frightened at the prospect of having sleepless nights without it, but losing my vision seems even more frightening

Nutritional deprivation

Vitamin imbalance - both overload and deficiency as well as Mineral imbalance - overload and deficiency can result in eye diseases of various sorts. For example, Xerophthalmia is estimated to affect 5 million children each year. It is a medical condition in which the eye fails to produce tears. Xerophthalmia is caused by a severe vitamin A deficiency and results in dryness of the conjunctiva and cornea. The conjunctiva becomes dry, thick and wrinkled. If untreated, it can lead to corneal ulceration and ultimately to blindness as a result of corneal damage.

But, it is not generally understood how overdosing is as bad as deficiency. The elderly are often dosed up on vitamin supplements and mineral supplements, but there is a direct link between supplements and cataracts for example. The following comes from eHealthme

Source: eHealthme - On Sep, 11, 2014: 38,361 people reported to have side effects when taking Vitamins. Among them, 790 people (2.06%) have Cataract.

Note: The figures above do not add up to the 790 figure because the chart is for multi-vitamins as opposed to all vitamins - eHealthme have no chart for all the vitamin types put together.

And all those people who have convinced themselves they are short of selenium [encouraged by the purveyors of mineral supplements] run the risk of side effects too, by overdosing on something they probably already have quite enough of. Again the following comes from eHealthme.

On Oct, 06, 20161,447 people reported to have side effects when taking Selenium.
Among them, 24 people (1.66%) have Cataract

And even zinc, that supposedly super mineral, can have effects if taken in overdose proportions "On Sep, 19, 2014: 1,157 people reported to have side effects when taking Zinc sulfate. Among them, 2 people (0.17%) have Eye Haemorrhage."

Bacterial infection

Trachoma

A large number of bacterial infections cause blindness. Leprosy, for example, blinds well over 1 million individuals worldwide. Trachoma is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. The infection causes a roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. This roughening can lead to pain in the eyes, breakdown of the outer surface or cornea of the eyes, and to blindness. Trachoma is an infectious eye disease, and remains the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world. Globally, 41 million people suffer from active infection and nearly 8 million people are visually impaired as a result of this disease.

Leprosy remains to be a leading cause of peripheral neuropathy and disability. In recent years under Leprosy control programme more stress is being laid on disability assessment. This study was aimed to find prevalence of grade of Ocular disability among persons affected with leprosy (PAL) according to WHO disability grading scale and to find Ocular contributors to grade 2 disability in PAL. A cross sectional study was carried out in tertiary care hospital in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. About 302 PAL were interviewed and their eyes clinically examined during 2 years. Data was analysed in percentages, x2 test, Anova. Ocular disability was found in 39.40% persons affected with leprosy (PAL). Of 604 eyes, 13.07% had grade 1 disability and 19.86% had grade 2 disabilities. Bilateral disability was more common than unilateral disability. PMID: 25163254

Viral infection

The Rubella virus, to provide but one example, can cause blindness in the baby, if a pregnant Mum has the disease, as well as cardiac, cerebral, and auditory defects. It may also cause prematurity, low birth weight, and neonatal thrombocytopenia, anaemia and hepatitis. This is the main reason a vaccine for rubella was developed. But this is just the tip of a very very large iceberg, both bacterial and viral infections cause eye diseases and blindness on a major scale, for example

In India, dengue disease has [seen] a sharp increase .... Presentation of the disease varies from asymptomatic illness to haemorrhagic manifestations and shock. Previously ocular findings were considered rare in dengue fever; but due to the increased number of cases, various types of ocular complications are described in present day case series. Here, is presented a case of a girl with serologically proven dengue fever who developed a subhyaloid premacular haemorrhage in one eye with superficial retinal haemorrhages and cotton wool spots in both eyes. PMID: 24968531

Occasionally a virus and blindness is the result of medical procedures [I won't use the word incompetence as it sounds too emotive].

Dermatologists are using an increasing range of immunomodulatory therapies to treat an expanding number of skin diseases. Complications of therapy are broad and include infection. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis has not been reported in association with dermatologic disease. Patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy should be monitored for blurred vision, floaters, or visual loss and referred for urgent assessment to ensure accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment of possible CMV retinitis. PMID: 25008449

Fungal infection

There are a number of extremely unpleasant fungal infections that can cause both temporary and permanent eye problems including blindness. A fungal keratitis, for example, is an 'inflammation of the eye's cornea' (called keratitis) that results from infection by a fungal organism. But there are other sorts...........

The clinical manifestations, imaging examination, operation methods and complications were analyzed retrospectively in 9 patients with fungal infection of the sphenoid sinus …After treatment, one patient .. had complications of ptosis, eyeball fixation and could only see the moving finger in the serious eye, while the contralateral eye regained normal vision. One patient ….had blindness, eyeball fixation and ptosis in the left eye. In 3 patients, the vision was improved, but the eyeball movement was still limited. In another 3 patients, there was no significant recovery of vision, with one eye fixed in movement. PMID: 25017224

Hypoxia

Loss of sight , acquisiton of a sense of humour

Shortage of oxygen can cause blindness and sight impairment, and this can be caused by smoking and air pollution for example.

But so can too much oxygen and lack of other essential gases. A number of cases of permanent and total blindness were caused to Premature babies - as a result of the inappropriate use of ventilators.

Stevie Wonder, for example, was born six weeks premature, which, along with the oxygen-rich atmosphere in the hospital incubator, resulted in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a condition in which the growth of the eyes is aborted and causes the retinas to detach; so he became blind.

Other brain damage

Painting by John Currin

All of the other types of brain damage can also result in or develop into sight generation of some sort, for example, Migraine, Bipolar disorder or manic depression, Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, ADHD, Brain haemorrhage, Brain tumour, Concussion, Stroke, Meningitis, Traumatic injury to the brain and head banging, Encephalitis, Hydrocephalus, Epilepsy , Epidural hematoma and Atonia and atonic seizures. Sight impairment is common among children with Autism. And in a Stroke, the posterior cerebral artery supplies the occipital lobe, and can be associated with cortical blindness, especially in the case of ischemic stroke.

Vaccines

A subject to cause arguments in every camp. But there are proven cases where vaccines can cause blindness and sight problems.
Where the vaccine used in the injection is a live virus, there are instances where it, although apparently vanquished by the immune system, lays low and continues to attack, albeit at a much reduced rate. One example is the herpes virus, read on:

Herpes simplex viruses types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) are human neurotropic viruses that establish latent infection in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) for the entire life of the host. From the DRG they can reactivate to cause human morbidity and mortality. Although they vary, in part, in the clinical disorders they cause, and in their molecular structure, they share several features that govern the biology of their infection of the human nervous system.
HSV-1 is the causative agent of encephalitis, corneal blindness, and several peripheral nervous system disorders;
HSV-2 is responsible for meningoencephalitis in neonates and meningitis in adults. The biology of their ability to establish latency, maintain it for the entire life of the host, reactivate, and cause primary and recurrent disease is being studied in animal models and in humans. PMID: 24142852

This is not the only virus to do this.

this is the ...report of a patient with EV [humanpapilloma virus disease] in whom squamous cell carcinoma of the conjunctiva developed. His clinical course was complicated by ocular invasion causing blindness, metastasis, and eventually death. PMID: 14576647

thus any vaccine containing a live virus carries great risk with it.

Some vaccines contain Thiomersal, which is mercury based. For a full list see this LINK. As a consequence, there is the risk of mercury poisoning and mercury poisoning can cause blindness and sight degeneration.

Radiation

All radiation whether 'cosmic' or electromagnetic impacts our bodies and depending on its frequency it resonates different parts of us. The reason that nuclear radiation is so dangerous is that it impacts cells, but what we appear to have overlooked is that all radiation impacts some part of us.

Every aggregate in our bodies - organs, cells, the body itself, has natural ‘resonance’. Resonance is a substance’s natural tendency to oscillate – vibrate – at maximum amplitude at certain frequencies, known as the thing’s resonant frequency.

And the eye has a natural resonance, which, if it subjected to high intensity and fairly constant stimulation can cause eye deterioration, degeneration and eventually cataracts or blindness.

Natural eye lens is a crystalline substance to produce a clear passage for light. Cataract is opacity within the clear lens of the eye and is the dominant cause of socio-medical problem i.e., blindness worldwide. . ... In this review, an attempt has been made to appraise various etiological factors ... Various risk factors have been identified in development of cataracts. .... radiation (ultraviolet, electromagnetic waves etc.) are implicated as significant risk factors in the development of cataract. PMID: 24618482

Treatment

Clearly the main line of action is to treat the cause if it is one of the above. Macular degeneration can also be helped by a change of diet or certain food stuffs. I have added a few observations from PubMed that indicate which foodstuffs have healing potential.

Glasses help.

How it works

Blindness, macular degeneration and sight impairment can produce some amazing and quite exciting spiritual experiences. As this area is so little explored and yet offers the blind a chance of hope, I have also included some examples of people who could see when blindfolded. More examples can be found within the overall section that describes how all this works ....

Sensory deprivation

References and further reading

"A blind man and his loyal service dog fell from a subway platform in

Harlem Tuesday morning 'The dog saved my life,'Williams said,

his voice breaking at times
White NJ: Complex visual hallucinations in partial blindness due to eye disease. Br J Psychiatry 1980; 136:284–286
Gold K, Rabins PV: Isolated visual hallucinations and the Charles Bonnet syndrome: a review of the literature and presentation of six cases. Compr Psychiatry 1989; 30:90–98
Pliskin NH, Kiolbasa TA, Towle VL, et al: Charles Bonnet syndrome: an early marker for dementia? J Am Geriatr Soc 1996; 44:1055–1061
Rosenbaum F, Harati Y, Rolak L, et al: Visual hallucinations in sane people: Charles Bonnet syndrome. J Am Geriatr Soc 1987; 35:66–68
Tueth MJ, Cheong JA, Samander J: The Charles Bonnet syndrome: a type of organic visual hallucinosis. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 1995; 8:1–3
Disturbances of the Mind – Douwe Draaisma
Macular Degeneration – Lylas and Marja Mogk
J Cutan Med Surg. 2014 Jul-Aug;18(4):287-90. Cytomegalovirus retinitis: a rare but preventable cause of blindness in dermatology patients. Laws PM, Kingston TP, Walsh S, Shear NH.

see also Powerful Portraits of Kenyan Children in Primary School for the Blind - January 10, 2012 by Alison Zavos

This is fun too Is Your Red The Same as My Red?

Related observations

Music Therapy - Nicky O’Neill and Giorgos with Blindness and Osteopetrosis 021960

WHAT AND WHERE IS HEAVEN?

VISIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS