(William Luftig pages 91-121)
LIGHT-TREATMENT (Special Part)
No patient suffering from an eye disease likes to have
an operation. When dealing with eye diseases it is, there-
fore, of great importance to general practitioners to know
the diseases which have been successfully treated without
operation, and their patients will certainly be most grateful
to them for having their attention drawn to the non-
operative treatment of eye troubles. Before I mention the
many eye diseases in which non-operative measures have
obtained good healing results (pp. 184, 185), I will start
with four well-known disease processes—namely, cataract,
glaucoma, detachment of the retina and squint. I shall
show why in these cases operations, which are advocated
by ophthalmic surgeons, are unnecessary, and give the
reasons why the eyes and the eyesight are restored without
operative interference.
CATARACT
Its Significance and Non-operative Treatment
WHAT IS CATARACT?
By cataract one understands a loss of transparency in any
part of the lens substance or the membrane surrounding it.
The lens is an organ which does not possess any blood-
vessels and in which no inflammatory processes take place.
lf pathological changes occur, degenerative conditions set
in and lead to cloudiness of the lens tissue. The patient
often thinks that a skin is growing over the surface of the
eyeball and obscuring the eyesight. This is, of course, not
the case.
IMPORTANCE OF CATARACT
I should like first to point out that cataract is the most
important disease process which affects the lens and con-
sists in a clouding of its substance or capsule. In order
to function properly, the lens, which is a light-refracting
organ, must be perfectly transparent, The importance of
Cataract arises from the fact that a cataractous lens
becomes gradually more and more opaque. As long as only
the peripheral parts are affected, the patient does not notice
much or anything at all of what is going on in the lens.
When, however, Opacities are situated in the centre of the
region of the pupil or spread in every direction, an interfer-
ence with vision makes itself felt, as the light-rays entering
the eyes are intercepted by the cataract masses. The visual
disturbance depends upon the position, density and extent
of the cataract.
WHAT CAUSES THE OPAQUENESS OF THE LENS?
There are four factors: which give rise to a continuously
advancing diminution or loss of transparency of the lens
substance: (1) There is a stagnation of the fluid current
in the lens resulting from the sticky and semi-fluid con-
dition of the blood and lymph. (2) There is, furthermore,
deterioration in the nutrition of the lens, which diminishes
the vitality and resistance of the delicate lens fibres.
(3) There are between the lens fibres deposits of acids and
salts which have an irritating effect on the lens tissue and
exert an increasing pressure on its delicate fibres. it is this
Pressure which has the effect of damaging and gradually
destroying them. (4) Unless appropriate counter-measures
are taken in time, the lens fibres finally disintegrate and
break down, and the end-result is that the whole mass of
the lens becomes clouded.
SUBJECTIVE SYMPTOMS
The subjective symptoms are visual disturbances which
cause the patient to seek medical advice. I mention the
progressive reduction of vision, fatigue, dazzlement of the
eyes, better sight at twilight, double or multiple vision,
disturbances of the sense of colour, distortion of shining
objects, shrinking from light, seeing dark spots and lines,
fog, mist or clouds before the eyes, impression of looking
through a veil or net. The so-called “second sight,”
whereby the patient all of a sudden can read better with
weaker glasses or without glasses, must always be regarded
as a sign suggestive of Cataract, as it is produced by a
swelling of the lens in the early stages of the disease,
STAGES OF CATARACT
In cataract one distinguishes several Stages. During the
development of the disease process, one speaks, firstly, of
incipient and, secondly, of progressing cataract. Mature or
ripe cataract constitutes a third stage in which the opacity
involves the entire cortex of the lens, and in the fourth
stage of hypermaturity the cortex of the lens gradually
becomes liquefied and the nucleus sinks to the bottom of
the lens capsule. No cataract diagnosis must be made
without seeing distinctly a definite opacity of the lens. A
grey pupil in elderly persons need not be a sign for the pre-
sence of a cataractous opaqueness; it may be a normal
physiological reflex. To avoid diagnostical errors, a careful
examination with the ophthalmoscope and, above all, with
the slit-lamp microscope is absolutely necessary.
FURTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF CATARACT
Cataract affects men just as frequently as women. It
attacks persons who appear strong and healthy as well as
those whose constitution is delicate and unsound. The
disease prevails in elderly people and children and is much
more rarely met with in younger and middle-aged persons.
The influence of heredity is revealed by the fact that there
are whole families, where children and adults are affected
with the type of cataract that corresponds to their age. As
a rule, the disease involves both eyes, one after the other,
and its causes are nutritive disturbances in the lens arising
from a toxic condition of the blood and a faulty composition
of the body fluids.
CATARACT AND HEREDITY
As regards the question of heredity, there is no need for
the patient to worry provided that he counteracts any
tendency towards cataract, and that is just what the non-
operative method accomplishes. Heredity is a factor which
must be seriously reckoned with only so long as the
bodily constitution and the natural forces of defence are
too weak to ward off disease processes in the eyes. The
fact that parents, grandparents, or other family members
are afflicted with cataract or any other eye disease does not
imply that these diseases are handed down from one
generation to another. What may pass on is a tendency
to certain diseased states. When the body is kept in, or
brought back into, the best possible condition, there is no
room for disease in a healthy organism. This is what my
medical experience has taught me. Any anticipation of
disease or of complication is, therefore, unfounded, if the
organic strength and power of resistance are not allowed
to be below par. When the eyes and bodily organs are
strong enough, the organism is able to defend itself against
injurious influences and morbid processes.
CATARACT IN PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM DIABETES
In diabetes, cataract and the loss of vision can develop
with striking rapidity. The disease process is the result
of the derangement of the metabolism which leads to the
accumulation and retention of toxic metabolic products in
the blood and lymph. The general hyperacidity and auto-
intoxication of the whole organism brings with it a mal-
nutrition and subsequent degeneration of the lens fibres,
because in such cases the food supply of the crystalline lens
is abnormal.
Although insulin is supposed to forestall the cataract, |
have seen a number of cataract cases where the regular
application of insulin has failed to act as a preventive.
In patients suffering from diabetes, a very dangerous
state of complete unconsciousness or diabetic coma may
occasionally set in after a cataract operation. it is the
acid poisoning of the blood and the chronic disorder of the
carbohydrate metabolism of the body which produce this
loss of consciousness, It is no rare occurrence that, after
a few weeks, the coma results in the death of the patient.
Also focal complications, such as haemorrhages, inflamma-
tion and infections, accompany or follow operations upon
the eyes. All these consequences and dangers can be
averted by non-operative local and general therapy of
diabetic patients (see pp. 26, 50).
WHY NO OPERATION OR DRUG TREATMENT IN CHILDREN’S
CATARACT
With regard to the treatment of cataract in children, I
object to any operative interference or to the constant
use of atropine for the dilatation of the pupil. As far as
operations are concerned, they entail too many dangers
which are associated with surgical therapy. One must not
forget that the young organism of the child readily
responds to non-operative treatment. For this reason, it
is not necessary to expose the child to any risk and to the
disfigurement of the pupil which arises from cutting out
a part of the iris.
Concerning the drug treatment with atropine which
serves the purpose of uncovering clear marginal parts of
the lens, one must always bear an important point in mind:
However mild these drugs or so-called mydriatics are, their
protracted instillation has a cumulative effect. It involves
the possibility of producing a poisoning of the child, and
I have seen such cases. They were brought to me after the
poisoning effect had taken place.
METHODS OF EXAMINATION OF THE LENS
If one wants to examine the lens and to find out the
situation, stage and variety of cataract in the affected eye,
one has to apply the following more or less complicated
methods of examination which alone make it possible to
establish the right diagnosis: (a) Inspection with the
naked eye. (b) Lateral, oblique or focal illumination. (c)
Transillumination of the eye. (d) Slit-lamp microscopy.
No method is of more importance and of greater value for
scientific research work than slit-lamp microscopy. It makes
the most comprehensive inspection of the lens under strong
magnification possible and allows the study, layer by layer
and in a small field, of the minutest details of the lens sub-
stances, the exact site of cataractous opacities in the lens
structure and the manifold pathological conditions which
characterize the various types of cataract.
SKETCH OF THE DISEASE PICTURE
To have a standard of comparison I regard it as very
expedient to make accurate drawings of all the details in
the cataractous lens, because a number of disease pictures
sketched at different times offer an excellent possibility
of finding out how far the lens opacities have changed in the
course of the non-operative treatment. Each sketch gives,
of course, only the outlines and the relative size of the
opaque areas. To get an idea of the density of each opacity
and of its decrease during the light-therapy there is no
better way of examination than slit-lamp microscopy.
IMPORTANCE OF EARLY RECOGNITION OF CATARACT
If visual disturbances occur in a patient over 40 years
of age, it is always advisable to use all diagnostic methods
for the examination of the eyes, in order to find out
whether or not the failing sight is due to the presence of
cataract. This is the only practical way to detect disease
conditions which may be in the first stage of development
and would otherwise escape notice. without being counter-
acted in time by preventive measures.
The earliest possible recognition of a cataractous process
in the lens is all the more essential, as the presence of
cataract marks the existence of some constitutional disorder
which has immediately to be counteracted, if one wants to
avoid an operation and make the non-operative treatment
a full success.
CATARACT AND GENERAL HEALTH
The general health condition has much to do with the
formation and development of cataract, and the degree of
the constitutional disorders of which the patient may not
be aware at all is a factor which greatly promotes and
hastens the progress of the disease process in the lens. This
shows how important it is to combine radiation therapy
with simultaneous treatment of the bodily constitution.
This is the fundamental principle of my therapy which I
have for many years successfully applied in a very large
number of cataract cases. According to my experiences,
a non-operative treatment conducted along these lines
offers the patient the best possible chance of coping with
cataract without surgical intervention. This combined
therapy is also the only way of safeguarding the other eye
from becoming a victim of cataract, too, because my
therapy eliminates acids and body poisons which expose
both eyes to the same harmful and disease-producing
effects. The interrelation between the body and eye
becomes especially obvious, when one considers the way
in which cataract comes about in new-born babies. In this
type of cataract the opacities in the lens are the result of
a chronic state of general hyperacidity in the mother’s
blood, and this condition comes about when, before the
birth, an excessive amount of acids passes from the blood
of the mother over to the child. Here the acid blood con-
dition has such an irritating effect that it produces the
disease picture of cataract in the particularly delicate lens
tissue of the child’s eye.
WHY POSTPONE ACTION UNTIL CATARACT IS RIPE?
Eye surgeons entirely overlook the intimate connection
between cataract and the general condition of the whole
system and adhere to the one-sided idea that cataract is
merely a local disease process in which, according to
ophthalmological teachings, the only way of dealing with
the trouble is to let the cataract ripen and then to remove
the opaque lens by an operation.
I am most decidedly against this procedure. Just as no
other disease process is allowed to run its full course
unchecked, why should cataract be allowed to progress to
the stage of ripeness without being stopped by counter-
measures? Why not make an appropriate effort in time
to reach this aim? I speak from long clinical experience
when I say that, if effective measures are taken, cataract
need not doom the patient to semi-blindness or blindness
with all the disadvantages which it entails. In the light of
my observations, there can be no doubt that cataract is
amenable to the healing measures of non-surgical therapy
and can be overcome successfully without operation. I
need not point out that non-operative treatment can never
be started too early. My advice is to take action without
undue delay, as this is the best way of saving the patient
an eye operation and much worry. Another most satis-
factory therapeutic result is the prevention of cataract in
the second eye, as otherwise both eyes tend to be affected.
WHY DO SPECIALISTS CONCEAL THE DIAGNOSIS ?
Orthodox eye specialists prefer not to acquaint the
patient with the diagnosis and speak only of “a film over
the eyes” or “a thickening of the lens” whereas in
reality the disease process of cataract is more or less in
progress, their idea is that the knowledge of having
cataract greatly upsets the patient, and, as they have no
effective means of checking the development of cataract,
they prefer to keep the patient in the dark until the cataract
is ripe and the necessity arises to suggest an operation.
However, if one is sufficiently familiar with the system of
non-operative eye treatment, one does the patient the best
possible service by disclosing the diagnosis and does not
unnecessarily deprive him of the earliest chance of putting
matters right in eye and body at a most favourable moment.
WHY ARE PATIENTS DISSATISFIED AFTER THE CATARACT
OPERATION ?
After the operative removal of cataract, patients can be
dissatisfied for a variety of reasons, no matter whether the
operation was successful or unsuccessful. A number of
patients experience all sorts of accidents and complications
during and after the operation. Others notice that a fresh
opaqueness arises which is called after-cataract and requires
further operative treatment. And then there are numerous
important after-effects which not only cause the patient
the greatest inconvenience and trouble, but also cannot be
eliminated by the eye surgeon. In addition, the operation
in one eye does not make the other eye immune. I will
now discuss in greater detail why the patient’s dissatis-
faction is justified after the operation.
DISSATISFACTION CAUSED BY OPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS
At the beginning of the book (see p. 1) | have already
given 12 reasons why | am against operative treatment.
The patient must, of course, be very disappointed and dis-
satisfied when, during or after the operatian, any of the
numerous accidents or complications occur which mar the
operative result or even destroy the sight of the operated
eye altogether. These complications consist largely in the
occurrence of dangerous injuries, inflammations, wound
infections and severe bleedings, which must always be
reckoned with and cannot be guarded against by any pro-
tective measure.
That even eye Surgeons reckon with the possibility of
failure and unforeseen ‘Operative and post-operative compli-
cations is revealed by the fact that, in cases of advanced
or ripe cataract in both eyes, it is an absolute rule never to
remove cataract in both eyes at one sitting, because the
eyesight of both eyes might be threatened by disastrous
complications.
It is well to remember that in short-sight the operation
nearly always leads to detachment of the retina either at
once or, as I have seen, even after several years.
IS A SUCCESSFUL CATARACT OPERATION A GUARANTEE OF THE
AVOIDANCE OF FURTHER TROUBLE ?
Even if the operation is successful, there are quite a
number of reasons for the patient’s dissatisfaction with
the operative result. It is essential to know that an opera-
tion which is performed without any complication is still
no guarantee of the avoidance of further trouble. The
successful removal of cataract in one eye doés not forestall
a further operation in the second eye, as it, as a rule, like-
wise becomes affected and requires surgical intervention.
This is undoubtedly a disadvantage which every cataract
patient is bound to fear. In contrast to this I point out
the prophylactic effect of non-operative therapy,
DISSATISFACTION WITH THE VISUAL RESULT AFTER A CATARACT
OPERATION
I come now to the discussion of the visual results after
a cataract operation. The eyesight obtained after the
operation is naturally of the utmost importance to the
patient, and I will in the following bring the reasons for
his discontent.
In this connection it may be of interest to review the
visual results after a cataract operation from two stand-
points: (a) from that of the patient, and (b) from that of
the surgeon. The patient expects good eyesight or at least
that degree of vision’ which he had before his eyes were
affected with cataract. He thinks quite logically that,
after the successful removal of the cataractous lens and the
complete recovery from the effects of the operation, his
sight ought to be restored to the level before his disease,
To get an idea as to the percentage of success achieved
by the operation, we must study the clinical statistics and
the medical experiences collected by different eye
specialists. This is the safest way to obtain a true picture of
the situation. On looking over the visual results we find that
the figures given vary to a great extent. It may be well to
call the reader’s attention to the chief facts revealed by this
investigation.
According to my researches, the figures at my disposal
are as follows: From 90 to 95 per cent of the operated
cases are recorded as successes. In itself, this result looks
very satisfactory. There is, however, one factor which is
less satisfying, and that is the standard set up to classify
a cataract operation as a success or a failure. It is well
to keep carefully in mind what the statistics say in this
respect. In order to be successful the visual power after
the operation need not-be normal. It need not even be
two-thirds or one-half of the normal acuity of vision. This
would be a fine visual result. But, according to the con-
ception of eye surgeons, only a fragment of normal eyesight
is required to qualify as a success.
Although the patient might be satisfied with one-half
of the normal faculty of seeing, we find that, after the
prescription of suitable glasses, a visual capacity of as little
as one-sixth, one-eighth and one-tenth of the normal range
of vision is still within the limits in which a case is con-
sidered to be a good operative result. This means that the
patient does not see objects which normally ought to be
seen at a distance of 6, 8 or 10 yards, until he comes as
near as one yard. Or let us take another example. When
a man with normal eyesight reads a signboard with big
letters at a distance of 50 yards, the patient who sees one-
tenth with his very strong and heavy glasses does not
recognize anything at all at this distance, but has to move
towards it nearer and nearer, till he stands 5 yards before it,
One can hardly maintain that this limited vision can con-
stitute a sufficiently high level of success to satisfy the
surgeon or patient. Some medical statistics and opinions go
even so far as to claim as a positive but moderate result also
those cases where the patient’s eyesight with his spectacles
is as low as one-twentieth and one-thirtieth of the normal
visual acuity or even less. It is not hard to realize how
little that is. If, for instance, in the latter case the patient
wants to read the inscription on the front of a building, he
would have to approach as near as one yard in order to
recognize what a normal eye reads at 30 yards’ distance.
From the practical point of view, such poor sight is
insufficient to meet the patient’s requirements in his voca-
tional or private life and gives cause to a great deal of
discontent. These inferior visual results obtained by
operative procedure show the reader that the most success-
ful operation need not improve the patient’s failing eyesight
to any appreciable degree.
DEVELOPMENT OF AFTER-CATARACT AFTER OPERATION
| have seen a number of cases where eye trouble arose
after the successful performance of the cataract operation.
It consisted in a so-called after-cataract which developed
and interfered in an increasing measure with the eyesight
of the operated eye. It also caused in it a feeling of sensi-
tiveness, eyestrain and discomfort after exertion. This
after-cataract comes about in spite of the surgical removal
of the lens, because a more or less dense membrane or
cobweb-like tissue forms and can extend over the entire
pupillary area, thus constituting a great obstacle to the
light-rays which enter the eyeball.
The opacities in after-cataract arise early or late after
the operation, firstly, from folds and wrinkles in the
posterior lens capsule left behind in the eye; secondly, from
proliferation in the cell-lining of the external parts of the
anterior capsule; thirdly, from remains of unabsorbed lens
fibres; and, fourthly, from inflammatory processes in the
iris, ciliary body, and choroid.
I must add a few words about the frequency of after-
cataract. Surgical statistics show that after-cataract is a
very frequent occurrence and happens in about one-fourth.
of all cases operated for cataract. This makes a
further operation necessary. According to medical
experience, it is in no case possible to predict with any
degree of certainty whether the cataract operation will avoid
the formation of after-cataract and its subsequent operative
removal. The circumstance that the results obtained by
cataract operations are not permanent and that after-
cataract occurs is an important factor which speaks against
the operation and for the timely application of non-
operative measures. The operative treatment of after-
cataract involves new worries and excitements and, last but
not least, the danger of further complications. Surgeon
and patient must always be prepared for the fact that even
after a successful removal of cataract an after-cataract
supervenes which must also be operated upon, so that the
patient has always to reckon with the possibility of a further
operation.
Eye specialists will confirm the possibility of a non-
operative clearing-up of after-cataract, because this is a
universally recognized fact. According to the official
literature alluded to on p. 108, an absorption of the
opacities in after-cataract has often taken place, and my
experience shows that the clouding of the tissue may clear
up, even if thick cataract masses are present.
OTHER IMPORTANT REASONS FOR DISSATISFACTION AFTER
OPERATIONS
Even if the operation is successful from the ‘Surgeon’s
point of view, there are quite a number of disadvantages
and disappointments which make themselves felt in the
most unpleasant way. Patients may be dissatisfied after
the cataract operation (1) because of pain and insufficient
and blurred vision in the operated eye; (2) because of the
necessity of having to use three or even four sets of glasses;
(3) because of irregular astigmatism and indistinct vision
which cannot be eliminated by glasses; (4) because of the
impossibility of wearing cataract glasses and the necessity
of giving up occupation; (5) because of the heaviness of
cataract glasses; (6) because of general and local troubles;
(7) because of the impossibility of the lensless eye working
together with the normally sighted eye; (8) because this
lack of co-operation of both eyes leads to squint; (9)
because of the disadvantages of bifocal glasses; (10)
because of the difficulties arising from the makeshifts to
eliminate the disadvantages of cataract glasses: (11)
because of the dread of light after the preliminary cataract
operation; (12) because of the dread of light after the
cataract operation.
I have seen such cases and am glad to say that the
measures of my system of therapy enabled me to rid the
Patients of their complaints, although eye surgeons were
not in a position to give the patients the desired relief by
the orthodox measures at their disposal.
WHY IS THE EYESIGHT BAD AFTER THE OPERATION FOR
CATARACT ?
I will now give the reasons for the above-mentioned
complaints arising after the cataract operation.
The operative removal of the opaque lens in cataract has
the effect of destroying the whole visual mechanism of the
eye. If we think of an optic instrument —for instance, a
telescope— out of which we remove one lens, it is not hard
to imagine that, by so doing, we interfere with the arrange-
ment of lenses in the tube and the normal light-refraction.
Exactly the same is the case when we derange the light-
refraction in the eye by eliminating the lens, which is an
essential part in the optical system of the visual organ. The
change in the normal course of light-rays upsets the optical
system of the eye and impairs the eyesight. This condition
is aggravated by the irregular state of the cornea, which
results from the scar of the healed operation wound and
gives rise to indistinctness of vision and eyestrain, as well
as to discomfort, burning, feeling of pressure, fatigue, pain
and headaches.
With the fensless eye, the patient can do nothing but
gross work, and is unable to read or work at the ordinary
close distance. The finer faculty of vision is abolished,
because the light-refraction and the mechanism of accom-
modation are disturbed. Together with the astigmatism,
these are the reasons for the functional incapability of the
lensless eye. As far as glasses are concerned, they bring
with them a lot of trouble. Not until two or three months
have elapsed can they be prescribed, because one has first
to secure a smooth healing of the wound and to wait for the
disappearance of inflammatory and irritative conditions. It
takes approximately half a year before glasses can be ordered
for constant use. This time of waiting is due to the astig-
matism, which must first reach a certain stage and is
gradually reduced during a period of one or two or many
years. There are cases where the irregularity of the cornea
persists obstinately and does not disappear at all. The visual
results are correspondingly poor,
How many glasses are required? The patient needs at
least two sets of glasses, one pair serves the purpose of
improving distant vision, so that he can walk about with
greater ease. Another pair is absolutely necessary for near
vision, so that he can use his eye for reading and close work.
The strength of the distant glasses is usually plus 10, 11
or 12 diopters, and that of near glasses plus 14, 15 or 16
diopters. The considerable astigmatism which is mostly
present makes an additional cylindrical correction of about
2 diopters necessary. As the range of vision is limited to
the strength of these two spectacles, the patient can recog-
nize with clearness only those subjects which lie at
distances of 20 feet or 12 inches. If his work cannot be
done at the usual reading distance, he is compelled to have
a third or even a fourth pair of glasses for typewriting,
reading music, playing cards and so on.
There are a number of disadvantages connected with the
wearing of these strong convex glasses. They are rather
heavy and expose the nose to unpleasant pressure. The
constant change from distant to near glasses is a source of
much trouble and difficulty, and although one combines
glasses for distance and reading in so-called bifocal glasses,
inconvenience is not averted hereby, because the dividing
line between the two parts is a disturbing factor. At home
and in the office bifocal glasses may be quite expedient,
but the patient cannot walk with them downstairs or on
uneven ground, as his vision is blurred and the objects
looked at seem to be displaced and distorted as a result
of the prismatic effect of the glasses and the false projection
produced by them. He runs the risk of falling and crack-
ing or fracturing a bone. These accidents are all the more
dangerous, as cataract patients are, as a rule, in advanced
years.
If glasses are worn, further most unpleasant disadvan-
tages after unilateral operation are a headache and
discomfort, sickness, nausea, and a very annoying double
vision. The patient receives two unequal images and is
unable to fuse the different pictures on the retina of both
eyes into one harmonious visual picture. This is the case
when the eyesight of the unoperated eye is normal. The
lack of harmony in both eyes may even produce a disfiguring
squint. Difficulties also arise, because the convex glasses
are thick in the centre and thin at the edge. This means
that the refractive properties vary in different parts of the
glasses. This prevents the patient from rotating his eyes
or changing their position, as he must always look through
the centre of his glasses or turn his head in the direction of
any object he wishes to see. I have seen patients, who could
not get accustomed to their glasses and had to lay them
aside after an unpleasant period of mental and physical
uneasiness. Some were even forced to give up their
occupation, since glasses did not make it possible for them
to attend to their duties properly. Discarding the glasses
does not help much for three reasons. The double vision
continues, because the disproportion in the strength of
both eyes does not overcome the unequal size of the retina
images. Furthermore, it means an undue strain on the
working eye if only the unoperated eye is used. Finally, as
a result of non-use, the operated eye loses its functional
capacity if it does not take part in the act of vision.
The operated eye is hypersensitive towards light,
and a state of dazzlement and a dread of light are most
unpleasant. In addition, the patient suffers from eyestrain,
which brings about fatigue, weakness and functional
inability of the eyes. This state of affairs is a constant
source of dissatisfaction and distress, and it is not astonish-
ing that he is utterly dissatisfied with the result of the
operation.
EVIDENCE OF CONTINENTAL LITERATURE
When I started over three decades ago to centre my
interest on the non-operative treatment of cataract, the
question arose whether a cataract opacity could clear up
again. In my comprehensive study of this problem I
established very encouraging facts laid down, especially in
continental literature. In numerous medical publica-
tions and professional books I found reports which con-
firmed the possibility of clearing up the lens and the
curability of cataract by non-operative treatment.
CLEARING OF THE LENS IN EIGHT CATARACT TYPES
There is ample medical evidence to prove that cataract
can be successfully treated without operation and without
unnecessary risk. Eye specialists will confirm the follow-
ing facts, which are universally recognized——namely, that
the clearing up of opacities is rather often met with in eight
cataract forms, no matter whether it is an early or far-
advanced case. These eight types are: (1) Cataract in
elderly persons. (2) Cataract in children and juvenile
persons. (3) Traumatic cataract. (4) Diabetic cataract.
(5) After-cataract, (6) Experimental cataract. (7) Mature
cataract. (8) Hypermature cataract.
It is not my intention to arouse unjustified hopes in
sufferers from cataract, but these examples speak for them-
selves and are beyond dispute. As regards the non-operative
treatment of cataract, it is impossible and unscientific to
base one’s opinion on feeling or emotion. Only practical
experience is the deciding factor which yields the right
information. I do not want to set forth merely my own
views, but I refer to generally accepted opinions and
experiences which other authors and competent observers
have laid down in medical literature and which sub-
stantiate without any shadow of doubt the interesting fact
that the clearing-up of a cataract opacity has been
accomplished without operation a considerable number of
times in the eight types mentioned above. When we
review the medical literature dealing with the subject-—
and this literature has lately increased in a very gratifying
way——we find many records of cases from which we must
draw the logical conclusion that it is not in accordance
with the facts when eye surgeons claim that cataract can
be cured only by operation. On the strength of all medical
observations, it does not require any further proof that the
clearing-up of the lens opacities without having resort to
the knife is undoubtedly within the range of possibility.
Also as far as my medical experience goes, cataract has
often cleared up without operation. Therefore, operative
measures are not, and have not to be, the exclusive thera-
peutic course of action in the treatment of cataract.
All the examples given above are established clinical
facts which are certainly known to have taken place. They
are an absolute and undeniable proof that, contrary to the
general belief of eye surgeons, the disease can take a turn
for the better, and that a decided benefit can undoubtedly
be obtained by non-operative measures, This benefit is
due to the natural tendency in the lens to reverse the disease
process and to return to its former state of transparency.
Although hundreds of cataract cures without operation have
been made public, there are in reality infinitely more cures
which have been accomplished in cataract by restoring the
transparency of the lens. However, not every single case
has been and can be recorded and a great many of them
are, therefore, not generally known.
EFFECTS OF LIGHT-THERAPY IN CATARACT
We must now speak about the influences of the light-
therapy on the lens, as far as its recovery and clearing-up
are concerned. After that I shalf speak about the improve-
ment of the eyesight in cataract and about the reasons why
all subjective symptoms are eliminated by light-therapeutic
measures.
The main factor in the healing process is the energetic
activation and acceleration of the fluid stream by the light-
treatment which re-establishes the lymph route within the
lens. The circulatory stimulation brings about four
important effects: Firstly, it stops the disintegrating pro-
cess in the lens. Secondly, it loosens and dissolves the lens
deposits. Thirdly, it eliminates the dissolved substances.
Fourthly, it counteracts the nutritional and structural dis-
turbances in the lens fibres. Local light-treatment sets
the slow-moving or stagnant lymph fluid of the lens in
motion and the more vigorous and lively the stream of fluid
is which flows through the crystalline body in the eye, the
easier is the process of dislodging, softening, dissolving and
washing_away the salt deposits which lie between the lens
fibres and constitute a mechanical obstruction to the
normal flow of lymph in the lens substance. As long as
the pathological products impede and retard the current
of liquid, further apposition takes place in the lens. The
opacities in its substance increase constantly and the
disease passes from one stage to the other. Hereby, day
by day and month by month, the lens becomes hazier and
hazier.
Cataract does not grow on its own account like a tumour,
but increases in size by the deposits of fluids, acids and
salts in the interspaces between the lens fibres. It is this
additional apposition and accumulation of matter in the
tissue clefts which can be prevented by irradiation. To
secure a good result in cataract, it is most essential not to
delay the treatment until the lens fibres are destroyed by
the disease. Light has an eliminating effect which is
achieved by improving and speeding up the fluid current
in eye and lens. Hereby the lens deposits are carried away
and leave the lens through its capsule in the same way as
they got into the eye. They are, eliminated from the
organism through the natural excretory passages. An
increasing clearing-up of the lens accrues from this
cleansing process.
MY OWN PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
As the flagging system of the visual organ is not of its
own accord capable of a recuperative effort, one must add
the powerful stimulus of light-therapy, which reawakens
and reinforces the reparative process in the affected lens
fibres.
In this respect a well-chosen combination of light-
therapeutic measures will do more than any other method
to clear up the lens. I have had very satisfactory results
in early as well as in long-standing cases of cataract,
and can state that the non-operative therapy has a great
number of successfully treated cataracts to its credit,
because it promotes the circulation of fluids and the
absorption of lens deposits and removes all the causes of
an advance of the cataract. Thus the foundation is laid
for a decline of the disease process in the lens substance.
The interstices between the lens become less and less filled
with fluids, acids and salts, and the deposits can decrease
and disappear. The lens fibres which are not too much
disintegrated recover, because they are no longer the victims
of a sluggish and toxic lymph supply. The invigoration and
furtherance of the cells serve as an important prophylactic
measure. They keep off the further degeneration of the
lens substance and check the tendency of the disease to
become worse. Thus the light greatly contributes, not only
to the elimination of the lens deposits, but also to the pro-
tection of the lens fibres from further harm.
Slight cloudings as well as thicker cataract masses have
been cleared up by light-therapy, and there is no need to
allow the disease process in the lens to approach the stage
of complete opaqueness without taking energetic preven-
tative steps in time. The patient need not wait until,
ultimately, his vision is obstructed and lost by opacities.
I can state that, when the treatment was started before the
lens fibres were destroyed, a permanent healing effect has
been secured. Every progressive physician can easily con-
vince himself of this fact by giving the method advocated
in this book a fair trial.
Incipient or not too far advanced cases of cataract can
be completely cleared up by non-operative therapy. It is
a very comforting circumstance that the healing measures
applied have a most reviving effect on the lens and call
forth the reactive and healing power of the human system.
Therefore, the chances of success which this treatment
offers are very favourable. I have treated many cataract
patients, who came to me from a long distance, and have
succeeded in clearing up the cloudiness of the lens in all
stages of opaqueness and degeneration. The patient had
not to wait long for an improvement. For very soon after
the treatment began the disease process was checked, and
an increased acuity of vision made its appearance in a
striking manner.
Generally speaking, the complete destruction of the lens
cannot be altered. However, Nature gives a good example
for non-surgical cure by absorbing the dead, liquefied lens
substance in hyper-ripe cataract. | have seen a few cases
of perfectly ripe and hyper-ripe cataract which could be
successfully treated without operation. A number of such
cases are on record. Although the absorption of a totally
opaque and liquefied lens is a rare occurrence which can-
not be generalized, one can still draw the conclusion
herefrom that cataract disappears in every stage without
resort to operative measures if body and eye possess
sufficient reactive power.
The results achieved in cataract by the non-operative
therapy are permanent and not only transitory. This is the
result of my practical experience since 1914. After the
end of the treatment I closely watched my patients for
many years without finding any relapse. In contrast to eye
surgeons, I regard the operative treatment as a method of
last resort, to be used only when the degenerative process
has progressed too far to be reversed by non-operative
measures. As in immature cataract the operation
undoubtedly involves special dangers and difficulties, it is
always worth while to start the non-operative treatment in
any case of unripe cataract and thus to give the eye a chance
to recover without exposing it to post-operative complica-
tions, which irrefutably take place if the patient is operated
upon at this stage of the disease. On the strength of
medical observation, it unquestionably does not seem logical
to require any further proof that a cataractous eye can
actually get well without operation.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE EYESIGHT IN CATARACT
That the effective countermeasures of the non-operative
therapy achieve good results is seen in the quick response
of the eye, as far as the eyesight disturbances are con-
cerned. The disappearance of visual defects is the best
proof for the effectiveness of the light-therapy, because all
symptoms are caused by tissue deposits and optical
irregularities in the lens. The visual improvement is due,
firstly, to the increased circulation in the lens: secondly,
to the greater absorption and elimination of the deposits
connected herewith; thirdly, to the better nutrition of the
lens substance; fourthly, to the recovery of the fens fibres
which have not suffered too great damage. The stimula-
tion of the fluid circulation in the lens prevents foreign
matter from settling between the lens fibres and removes
deposits in the fens substance. Thus, those factors are
eliminated which are detrimental to the eyesight, because
opacities bring about a deviation of the light-rays and an
irregularity in the refractive quality of the lens. Hereby
much trouble is averted, since the detriment which the
lens fibres sustain may lead to all degrees of visual disorder.
This is an important reason for the patient to start the non-
operative treatment of cataract as early as he possibly can.
Then no reduction or loss of vision will interfere with his
normal activities. The more the treatment removes the
opacities in the lens, the more is the mist before the eyes
dispersed, and the patient loses the impression of looking
through a cloud or smoke or through a net-like tissue. For
the same reason, the power of seeing improves steadily as
a result of the therapeutic measures. The patient recovers
the faculty of distant vision, which is at first affected by
cataract, as well as the faculty of near vision, which fails
in a later stage of the disease. As regards more advanced
cataract cases, very pronounced curative effects are still
possible. One can check the further progress of the
disease and, above all, most obviously improve the eyesight,
so that the abolition of vision by the cataractous process is
avoided and no total blindness arises as a consequence of
the opacification of the lens.
I have made the observation that even ripe cataract need
not exclude the chance of improvement. Although no
regeneration of the lens fibres can be expected in the final
stage of coagulation, I have seen that an increase of the
patient’s eyesight could be brought about, after the disease
process had reduced his vision to such an extent that only
the perception of light and darkness was left. In such cases
the visual improvement manifested itself by the fact that
bright light provoked the impression of brightness, whereas
before the treatment even sunlight shimmered but indis-
tinctly through the clouded lens and had no greater
intensity than dull moonlight. Objects came again into
sight. They appeared first as shadows, and later their dim
outlines could be seen. The progress made during the
healing process went in some cases so far that the patient
started to discern large objects or even to read bigger letters.
These remarkable visual results show that mature
cataract has also been relieved by non-operative measures.
In less severe cases the eyesight improvement is especially
obvious and there is practically no limit for the visual pro-
gress, as the mechanical obstruction to the transmission of
light stops and a marked restoration of sight accrues from
the combination of local and general measures, and
especially from light-therapy, eyesight training and homeo-
pathic medication.
When, as a result of the treatment, the lens is no longer
broken up into opaque sectors of varying refractive power,
the optical irregularities disappear and the objects looked at
are no longer seen double or tenfold or even a hundredfold.
The patient perceives again only one single image. So he
sees one moon or one lamp or candle and not a great number
of them, and the objects present a natural appearance with-
out being twisted out of shape and without taking on
fantastic forms. Bright street lamps and other luminous
objects look normal again and seem no longer strangely dis-
figured, as if they had radiant protuberances projecting from
them in all directions. This improvement reveals that the
light-rays are no longer deviated from their normal course
by the opacities in the lens substance. The distortion of
shining objects vanishes in proportion to the restoration of
normal refractive conditions in the lens.
By no other methods is it possible to give the patient
such quick relief from dazzlement as by light-therapy,
which is most comforting to the patient. After very few
ray-treatments he gets rid of the most troublesome intoler-
ance of light and bears without discomfort the exposure to
ordinary light. The brightness of the day is no longer
glaring and unpleasant, and the patient sees again just as
well in bright as in dim light without flinching from it or
closing the eyelids convulsively. He can again walk in the
street with perfect safety without shading his eyes or
bending his head down. Also symptoms of fatigue vanish,
as with the disappearance of the deposits the eyestrain and
the blurred vision which tire the eye are eliminated. The
increased lymph circulation, nutrition and waste elimina-
tion restore disturbances in the perception of colour.
Considering these gratifying effects which come about
when the treatment succeeds in absorbing the opacities in
the lens tissue, there can be no doubt concerning the great
usefulness of the non-operative therapy of cataract.
Experience teaches that the eyesight improvement and the
disappearance of all visual defects take place rather quickly
and the patient has not to wait long for them. It is just
the instant response and the rapid manifestation of healing
results which the patient appreciates and on which the
superiority of the non-operative therapy is based,
TWO CATARACT GROUPS
I should like to point out that there are two cataract
groups: One group which is most frequently found and
shows a steady advance towards the stage of ripeness, and
another group, which comes to a standstill without ripening.
I should like to lay special stress upon the fact that my
practical experience refers mainly to cases which exhibited
a marked tendency to advance, before the non-operative
treatment was instituted. In these cases a further progress
of the disease was prevented by the treatment, and the
cataract could be eliminated or considerably improved.
Besides, I do not speak about progressive cases which were
merely interrupted in their course towards maturity. From
the patient’s point of view, the stopping of the disease
process is in itself most satisfactory, as it makes the eye
operation unnecessary. What I do mean is that the lens
became clear again and the visual improvement was not
transitory but permanent.
After concluding the treatment, I have closely watched
a large number of successfully treated cataract patients for
many years without finding any relapse.
TECHNIQUE OF LIGHT-TREATMENT IN CATARACT
I will now bring a survey of the technique which I apply
in the non-operative treatment of cataract. The light-
therapeutic measures consist in the institution of concen-
trated white light and chromotherapy.
Concentrated White Light. In early and not too far
advanced cases of cataract I apply concentrated white light
at each sitting for from two to ten minutes,
In more progressed cases where the lens fibres have
already been more or less damaged by deposits, longer
applications from 10 to 15 minutes prove most beneficial
and a real local tonic treatment.
Concentrated white light can be and is most useful in
those cases where the cataract is mature or hypermature,
The light is applied for a quarter of an hour or even half
an hour.
In cases where cataract has caused the troublesome
symptom of hypersensitiveness to light, quick relief is
brought about by gentle applications of light- and colour-
therapy. I proceed by adjusting the focus of the light-rays
in such a way that at the beginning the light waves are less
concentrated. The addition of blue light has a specially
soothing effect.
Distance of Light-Source. The distance from the light-
source is one and a half yards, and I regulate the intensity
of the light by adjusting the focus of the light-rays.
Colour-Combinations. As far as the administration of
various colours of light is concerned, | mainly use red and
yellow light-rays in combination with concentrated white
light.
Further Expedient Combinations. To increase the res-
ponse and enhance the chances of success, I sometimes
combine red and green or yellow and green rays. Some
cases or some disease stages require the simultaneous
exposure to a combination of red, yellow and green light
followed by the administration of concentrated white light.
For further indications of combining colour, see p. 48.
Especially in more progressed cases of cataract I give
white light also at the beginning of each sitting in order to
ensure an increased effect on the diseased lens. Also
indigo and violet light proves useful.
Time of Exposure. Each chromotherapeutic application
takes from five to 20 minutes.
Distance of Light-Source. The distance between the
patient and the light-source is at the beginning one yard,
and is gradually reduced to half a yard.
Administration of Coloured Light in Darkened Room. To
increase the effect of local colour-therapy, | often darken
the room so as to exclude the influence of daylight and to
administer only the colour or colours which the treatment
of the eyes requires.
Length of Treatment. According to the stage of the
disease, the cataract treatment takes, as a rule, from two
to four weeks. The number of treatments required usually
varies from 12 to 24 local irradiations.
Advantage of Light-Treatment. It is a great advantage
of light-therapy that the patient can go about his regular
occupation during the course of treatment.
HOMEOPATHIC TREATMENT
In the non-operative treatment of cataract, homeopathy
plays an important part, as a correctly chosen remedy greatly
supports the healing process in the eyes and the readjust-
ment of the constitutional background. I refer the reader
to p. 78, and especially p. 81, where I speak about homeeo-
pathic medicines useful in cataract.
CONSTITUTIONAL TREATMENT
This part of the treatment requires the application of
constitutional measures which | have discussed in Part V
(see p. 50). In order to eliminate all causative factors,
it is essential to detoxicate the blood and body tissues, to
restore the acid-alkali ratio of the body, to revitalize the
bowel and liver functions, to counteract glandular disturb-
ances as well as emotional imbalance and to readjust spinal
irregularities. In progressed cases it is advisable to apply
a somewhat more energetic detoxication and to repeat it
in order to prevent acid by-products from being retained in
eye and body and acting as poisons and irritants on the
delicate lens fibres. For this purpose it is always necessary
to expel arrears of elimination from all parts of the
organism and to take care of all waste matter which is
constantly formed in the metabolic process.
Combination-therapy (see p. 88) greatly helps to cleanse
eye and body by local and general measures, and its great
value lies in removing potential health-destroying factors
and paving the way for the clearing of the lens and the
increased organic stability and functional capacity of the
entire eyeball.
In cataract due to diabetes a strong acid-binding,
detoxicating and vitalizing influence accrues from a drastic
tissue detoxification, blood alkalization and chemical
readjustment, which, in combination with spinal treatment,
homeopathic medication and light-therapeutic measures,
constitute a tonic therapy suitable to reduce the lens opaci-
fication, to revitalize and recondition the lens fibres, and
to restore the patient’s sight. The absorption of cataractous
opacities and the visual recovery is a frequent clinical
experience. The same is the case in all other cataract forms.
As regards cataract treatment in children, I combine,
just as in a senile cataract, constitutional treatment of the
whole system with the local treatment of the affected eyes.
A essential factor in the restoration of a child to health is
its natural and reactive healing power which, when insuffi
cient or lacking can be awakened and greatly intensified
by general and local measures. The non-operative treat-
ment of cataract in children is usually characterized by
good response and quick visual and organic improvement.
Résumé
WHAT THE NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF CATARACT HAS
TAUGHT ME
Cataract is an eye disease with which I had to deal during
a period of over thirty years. The facts which my medical
practice has taught me are:-—
(1) Cataract in adults and children can be successfully
treated without operation and without the dangers
arising from Post-operative complications (p. 8).
(2) No one, whether old or young, need be exposed
to a crippling eye operation or its repetition, as the loss
of the jens destroys the optical mechanism of the visual
organ and causes unsatisfactory vision.
(3) Eye operations are bound to yield unsatisfactory
results, because they do not remove the fundamental
cause of the disease and, for the same reason, cannot
forestall the development of cataract in the other eye.
(4) The clearing-up of an opaque lens without opera-
tion is an undeniable clinical fact which is corroborated
by very numerous medical observations and reports. Not
only do slight cloudings of the lens become transparent,
but also thicker cataract masses are cleared up. To this
must be added the occasional absorption of ripe and over-
ripe cataract.
(5) When even spontaneous absorption has been
recorded in cases where the lens was perfectly opaque or
liquefied, the deduction must be obvious to everybody
that the course of healing can be stimulated and sup-
ported by the energetic action of powerful non-operative
measures. This is especially the case when the disease
process has not yet reached the stage of ripeness.
(6) To secure a good curative result in cataract, it is
most essential not to delay the treatment until the lens
fibres are destroyed by the disease.
(7) The healing results achieved by non-operative
treatment are permanent and no relapses occur, when,
through the addition of general measures to the light-
therapy, the constitutional causes of the disease are
overcome.
(8) The visual improvement is most pronounced, and
all symptoms caused by the disease can be eliminated
without operation.
About the harmlessness and the advantages of non-
operative eye treatment I speak in the chapters beginning
on pp. 221, 227. ;