Podcast 175: Lecture

Here is an excerpt from a class I recently led on cataracts. We dig into the different drugs that can lead to cataracts and tips on how to prolong your sight and prevent cataracts. Enjoy the show. If you want more, sign up for my newsletter at: www.drsamberne.com. SUMMARY KEYWORDS cataracts, lens, drugs, light, glycation, process, eye, proteins, blue, blue blockers, zeaxanthin, pictures, anti-inflammatory agent, acid xanthine, cortical, create, part, protein molecule, oxidative stress, lutein Hello, everyone, it’s Dr. Sam, I’d like to welcome you to my EyeClarity podcast. This is a show that offers cutting-edge information on how to improve your vision and overall wellness through holistic methods. I so appreciate you spending part of your day with me. If you have questions, you can send them to [email protected]. Now to the latest EyeClarity episode. Alright, causes of cataracts drugs. So I did a video blog you can go to that article, but I'm going to give you the bullet points. So these are the drugs that can cause cataracts, steroids, primarily used as an anti-inflammatory agent for things like asthma, arthritis, lupus, we include in the family glucocorticoids corticosteroids, prednisone, a lot of people have been on prednisone, hydrocortisone, cortisone. These are other top drugs, top photosynthesizing, birth controls, antihistamines. sulfa, drugs, tranquilizers, antidepressant depressants, oral and anti-diabetic drugs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, things like Advil, ibuprofen, Motrin. These can contribute to the oxidative stress we find in cataracts. Okay, let's take a question here. Do those blue light glasses and apps work for using digital devices? Yes, they do. I think it's a three-prong process. I think it's the blue light blue filter glasses, the ones that I sell. I've researched the blue light industry. And what I decided was putting a blue-blocking filter on the backside of the lens, so it's closest to your eyeball will cut out the most amount of blue light. Now in terms of apps, I am working with a company right now, where I'm going to be probably putting it up on my web store. That is a shield that you can put over your computer or your phone that can add an additional effect of blue blockers. So stay tuned, it's probably going to happen fairly soon. I've been talking with a company for a while. That's going to make it for me. And number three, the supplements lutein, zeaxanthin, and Xanten are very important for macular health and help block the damaging blue light they deflect it, also the ultraviolet light. So my vitamin has those. Again, lutein, zeaxanthin, and astaxanthine are also important for your lens health. So yes, you should start taking those. Another question is Lyme disease with Bell's Palsy can that cause cataracts? I would say secondarily, but there's usually something going on in the metabolism of your nutrients in the lens in the eye and I'll go into that mechanism in a few minutes. That's creating oxidative stress. And it's the oxidative stress that is creating all these cataract situations. Alright, let's come back here. We've talked about these kinds of drugs. Alright, so the mechanism of cataracts, let's go into this. As I showed you the lens is a transparent tissue. It helps the light pass through the lens to the retina. And the lens is comprised of water, a mix of proteins, and collagen. And cataracts start forming partly because the proteins begin to clump together. And as the proteins consolidate, it causes the lens to go from a white color to a yellow color, and eventually a brown. Now another mechanism with cataracts has to do with something called the glycation process of the lens.