He walked the length of his facility hallway, entered the consultation room and sat down at a desk. He looked up at his patient and cleared his throat. All tests and indications lead me to conclude that you are losing your vision. Within the next few years you will be blind. Sounds strange but, oddly enough, this scenario is not uncommon.
Vision problems afflict a large number of the general populace.
In America, Cataracts are responsible for an estimated 5000 cases of blindness each year. 13 million people currently exhibit some degree of vision loss due to an eye condition called Macular Degeneration . Better than 2 million people suffer from Glaucoma , and half of the 16 million diagnosed diabetics might develop Diabetic Retinopathy within 10 years of diagnosis. The numbers bear out the fact that complications from diabetes is the primary cause of adult blindness in the U.S. Free radicals are the primary cause of ocular damage both in cataracts and macular degeneration. Though some free radicals are endogenously formed, many are created from ultraviolet radiation, air pollution, and some theorize, from tobacco smoke.