Acupuncture brings better vision



http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/0511h
ealthprofile11.html

May. 11, 2004 12:00 AM


How she turned back the clock


Name: Dorothy Bee.

Age: 52.

Home: Surprise.

Job: Homemaker.

The motivation: Bee was diagnosed at age 18 with Stargardt's disease
(juvenile macular degeneration), which drastically reduces central
vision.

Bee was told there was no cure for the hereditary condition and no
treatment to improve the visual loss or slow its progression.

"I didn't know I wasn't supposed to get by, so I just did it," she
said. "I had my cry, I'd stamp my feet, and then I'd pick myself up.
I wasn't going to sit in the house and vegetate."

She taught her son, Ken, now 34, to read at an early age by
memorizing stories read to her by her husband. After relating the
stories to Ken, she would have him attempt to read them aloud and
tell her the letters in words he didn't know. She functioned by
touch and sound, noting that on walks, she could hear cars long
before anyone else could see them.

The change: Three years ago, Bee learned about micro-acupuncture
from her ophthalmologist, Elizabeth Tukan. The Peoria doctor also is
a certified acupuncturist who had some success with treatments in
other macular degeneration patients.

Bee had 10 treatments in two weeks, during which Tukan placed 18
needles in her feet, hands and forehead for 15 minutes.

"The very first treatment it was like somebody had lifted a veil off
both my eyes. Everything was so much clearer and sharper," said Bee,
who continues to have the treatments as needed. "It's not a miracle
cure - you won't have 20/20 vision - but for me, because my vision
was so imperfect, this really has improved it."

Tukan said more than half of her patients who've had micro-
acupuncture have had similar results, but patients need to have
realistic expectations.

"Dorothy has had a wonderful response," Tukan said. "But for some
people, it may take 10 to 15 treatments for them to see some
benefit, and some people don't benefit from it at all."

No one knows how or why it works, but Tukan has a theory.

"The eye merely receives the visual information and has to transfer
it to the back part of the brain for interpretation," she
said. "Acupuncture acts like an antenna, adjusting the signal
between the eye and the brain. The eye is still damaged, but that
signal is fine tuned, and the patient ends up seeing better."

The gain: Bee used to sit 6 inches from her television, but now she
can back up 3 to 4 feet. She can see colors, the definition between
blue sky and white clouds, and the movement of cars and people
inside them.

And Bee can read, one word at a time, with the help of a new
computer mouse that magnifies and projects words onto a television
screen. That tool enables Bee to help her granddaughter, Brenda,
with homework in a way she never could with Ken.

Bee's tips: Be open-minded. Take a chance. Try acupuncture. The
worst scenario is you won't get any better, but it won't hurt you.
And it may dramatically help you.

- Janie Magruder