Edward C. Kondrot - Healing the Eye the Natural Way: Alternate Medicine and Macular Degeneration

HEALING THE EYE THE NATURAL WAY

Alternative Medicine and Macular Degeneration

EDWARD C. KONDROT, MD

The information in this book is meant to complement standard medical care. Any unusual, sudden, or severe symptoms should be evaluated by an ophthalmologist. The recommendations made in this book, while generally safe and non-toxic, may affect people differently. Therefore it is recommended that individuals with serious eye disease be under the care of a physician.

Copyright 2012
by Edward C. Kondrot, MD

ISBN 0-9672346-1-1
Library of Congress 99-06970
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including mechanical and electronic, without written permission from the author. The exception is for brief segments quoted in reviews.

This book is dedicated to my sons
Philip, Ryan, and Sean.
May they have clear vision all their lives.

Acknowledgments

Why another book dealing with alternative medicine and vision problems? I felt there was a need for a book that goes beyond nutrition, vitamin and mineral therapy for the treatment of macular degeneration. Over 20 years of practice have convinced me that there are alternative therapies that can be of great value in the treatment of this disabling condition. I want to share with the reader important information regarding vision therapy, homeopathy, Chelation and Microcurrent Stimulation that can change the life and sight of many people.

I thank my parents who have always encouraged me to question and to explore new ideas.

I also want to thank the many ophthalmologists who have helped me in my traditional training: Chandra Reshmi, Harold Scheie, Richard Stout and Laura Pallan.

I would also like to thank those ophthalmologists who are also incorporating alternative medicine in their practices: Dahlia Hirsch, Harold Byer, George Khouri and Debra Banker.

I am a grateful to all of my homeopathic teachers: Bill Gray, Karl Robinson, Roger Morrison, Nancy Herrick, Jonathan Shore, Ananda Zaran, Jayesh Shah, Rajan Sankaran and A. U. Ramakrishnan. Todd Rowe, Bill Mann, and Frannie Berez, my homeopathic friends, have helped me in many ways over the years. My gratitude to them.

I would also like to thank those people involved with Microcurrent Stimulation in particular Joel Rosen and Damon Miller.

Those who deepened my understanding of vision therapy have been a major part of my professional development: Meir Schneider, Grace Hallaron and Peter Mansfield.

I would like to thank those who worked on the manuscript: Christine Kondrot, Laura Pallan and Karen Lurix. Bill Coors, Dahlia Hirsch, Roger Morrison, and Eileen Nauman provided much needed encouragement by reviewing the entire manuscript prior to publication. In addition I would like to thank my secretary Cathie Youngans for her ability to keep me organized. And to Joanne Lew, for her illustrations, my appreciation.

I extend the deepest thanks to Gloria St John for her major contribution in producing this book. Her vast understanding of natural medicine contributed enormously to the final shape of this work.

Last I would like to thank all my patients for letting me be a partner in helping them improve their eyesight.

Edward Kondrot, MD

Contents

Foreword by William Coors, President, Coors Brewing

The scene is an ophthalmologists office. The doctor is talking to a patient. You have age-related macular degeneration. We call it ARMD. It is the leading cause of blindness in older people. We have no treatment for it. Come back and see me in three months. The patient wonders to himself, Why? This depressing news is given to thousands of people each year people who visited the eye doctor because of recent changes they noticed in their vision.

I, too, heard these fateful words fifteen years ago. They were similar to the words I heard from my internist at Mayo Clinic some fifty years ago. My ailment at that time was an extreme case of executive burnout which was not recognized by medical orthodoxy of that time. My internists message had two parts. We have good news and bad news for you. The good news is we can find nothing wrong with you. The bad news is we can do nothing for you.

Messages like these leave people with two choices retire to a cave for the rest of your life or seek help elsewhere. Choosing the second alternative leads one into the vast and complex field of alternative (or what many now call complementary) medicine. For me, this was a long and frustrating journey, but it solved my problems.

It was only natural to pursue the same course when I received my ARMD diagnosis. Anyway you slice it, aging itself is a degenerative process that gets us all in the end. And the end will come when the first essential body part wears out beyond repair. ARMD is nothing more, or less, than the accelerated aging of an almost essential body part the macula.

The human body is a remarkable aggregation of billions of individual cells, each one essential to the well-being of the whole. Each cell requires a constant supply of nutrients, some highly specialized, to function properly. In addition, there must be an effective distribution system to carry the nutrients to every cell. The cells that comprise the cones and rods of the macula are no exception. Failure to provide the body with all its essential nutrients, or any impairment in the delivery system to the cells causes degeneration of the affected cells.

Equally important is the fact that the human body possesses the ability to repair itself provided it receives the tools and materials necessary for the repair job. One essential tool is mental attitude. We hear much about the healing power of prayer and the mind/body effect these days. The placebo effect is an example of the minds encouraging the body to heal. And death by voodoo proves that the mind can destroy the body as well.

In my fifteen year battle with ARMD, I have concentrated on cardiovascular health, nutritional supplementation, immune system reinforcement, and mental attitude. I have lost ground in my left eye, but my right eye appears to be holding. As I write this text, I can see the letters perfectly. I dont see ARMD as curable, but I know for certain that its progress can be delayed. Perhaps, if caught early enough, it can be arrested.

Every single curative concept that I have heard of and used on myself is delineated in Dr. Kondrots book. In addition, his book has alerted me to two previously unknown therapies. I plan to add homeopathy and Microcurrent Stimulation to my regimen.

At this writing I have sixteen more years of life expectancy. I have every confidence that at the end of those years, I will see well enough to enjoy a gorgeous sunset and feast on the faces of those I love. I cant urge you strongly enough to take the message of this book to heart. Neither Dr. Kondrot nor I can make you any promises, but there is one thing I can all but guarantee. You will see better longer, and you may even see well for the rest of your life.

Foreword by Dahlia Hirsch, MD

Macular Degeneration can be a frightening word, and a frightening diagnosis, but it has come a long way. Twenty years ago, it was called Senile Macular Degeneration a witness to the fact that doctors neither understood its development nor had much sensitivity to the human side of practicing medicine. Unfortunately many physicians still tell patients with this diagnosis that there is no therapy available to help them. This just isnt so. There are so many ways people can be helped, if we take the time to look at the individual and heal them as a whole person: mind, body, and spirit. Healing is the experience of wholeness and that means much more than what a person can read on a chart, which we artificially deem perfect vision.