Vision improved when the chips are down

According to a study by Johanna Seddon, M.D., associate professor of ophthalmology at Harvard School of Medicine, "people who ate more processed foods of any type on a daily basis - foods high in vegetable, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats - were at higher risk for macular degeneration. Those foods that were highest in a type of fat called linoleic acid - found primarily in snack foods like potato chips - seemed to put people at even higher risk."

The bottom line according to Dr. Seddon: "Eat fish, not fat. Eat fish two or more times a week." Since the retina (the back of the inner surface of the eye chamber) contains large amounts of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), it is believed to be essential to good vision. Fish contains large amounts of DHA, so the assumption is that eating fish will contribute to improved vision.

What Dr. Seddon should have said was: "Eat fatty fish and fatty meat  - pork, beef, lamb, chicken - at least once a day." When researchers at Harvard say that, we can begin to hope that mainstream medicine has really turned the corner and is headed back to a rational, scientifically based approach to nutrition, and away from commercially based pseudoscience.

If you have a family history of macular degeneration, get checked early for the disease, especially if you have other known risk factors, such as smoking.  You should also base your diet primarily on animal protein and fat.  Take a daily dose of the following: 500 milligrams of vitamin C, 400 IU of vitamin E, 15 milligrams of betacarotene, 80 milligrams of zinc, and 2 milligrams of copper.

Nurse yourself back to health

I have always had a great respect for nurses. I listen carefully to what they have to say about the patient; I ask their opinion on difficult cases. I learned early in the practice of hospital medicine that a doctor's best ally in avoiding mistakes is a good nurse. Nurses spend most of their time with patients; doctors only visit for brief periods. Most doctors under-utilize nurses, usually because of an over-inflated eg "I'm a doctor; she's only a nurse."

A report in the May issue of the New England Journal of Medicine found that hospital stays were 3 to 5 percent shorter and complication rates 2 to 9 percent lower in the hospitals with the greater number of nurses. Some studies indicate there is no real shortage of nurse, just nurses willing to work in hospitals due to low wages and long hours. I suspect that the recently passed Nurse Reinvestment Act, which offers scholarships and loan repayment programs, will do little to relieve this shortage since it does nothing to improve working conditions in the hospital.   

To protect yourself from inadequate care at the hands of this shortage, hire a private nurse if you or a member of your family becomes severely ill or is in need of surgery. He or she is your watchman - checking medications, seeing to it that you get pain relief, and calling for help if you start heading south. The bottom line: She can save your life.