What’s the buzz? Tell me what’s happening!
Oh goody! I have glaucoma! Now I get to smoke pot legally!
Oh joy, oh bliss.
I think that I would rather be able to see. And not through a pot-filled haze, thank you all the same.
Not that I’m judgemental. Far from it. I’m jealous. My pot smoking, toking, eating, tea drinking days are long gone. Can you spell “paranoid”? Can you spell “I can’t breathe”. Can you spell “I’m not laughing anymore”.
Well I can goddammit. (And all my “funny” spellings with extra “a”s and “u”s and the odd extra “e” are British/Canadian spellings, people, not typos –usually.)
I haven’t had fun with heavenly hemp since I was twenty. The three or four times I’ve tried it since then have been hell on earth. It is not my friend.
But it might be yours.
If you have glaucoma, I have heard many people extoll the virtues of hemp for relief of the symptoms of this eye disease. Of course, they could all be blind little pot-craving hippy, drug-dealing-with-a-built-in-cover-story liars.
But I digress.
Glaucoma. What is it and is there anything we can do about it other than party?
Glaucoma is damage to the optic nerve caused by a build-up in intraocular pressure. That is the fluid pressure inside the eye. There are basically two types, open angle and closed angle glaucoma.
Closed angle is usually sudden in its onset, and painful. This results in the afflicted person seeking medical help early on before permanent damage occurs.
Open angle glaucoma is far more sinister in some respects, as it is a slow and subtle loss of the visual field, which might go unnoticed due to its gradually encroaching nature.
Like weight gain. Becoming fat overnight would send us scurrying off to the doctor at the break of dawn. Without breakfast.
If obesity creeps in slowly and steadily, one ice cream box at a time. Our minds seem to be tricked into not noticing how much larger we look since last month. All of a sudden, we realise we are fat.
With open angle glaucoma, we realise a little too late that we are as blind as bats –sans sonar.
It is a very good idea to have regular eye check-ups in order to detect glaucoma, as there are not usually any signs of this disease apparent to the victim in its early stages. Once there is damage, the loss of that portion of your field of vision is usually permanent.
As I mentioned in my last post, there are exceptions. My aquaintance John is one of them. He was diagnosed with glaucoma and told that he would never regain the eyesight that he had lost. He was already a healthy eater and exercise fanatic. He read up on the subject after being pointed to a naturopath by his chiropractor, who he was seeing for a bad back.
John’s naturopath suggested that he try a bilberry herbal supplement, so he did. He took it religiously every day in the dosage prescribed.
His glaucoma went away. Total remission.
His doctor was dumbfounded. And very supportive.
Unless you have an allergy to various berries or their leaves, I would highly recommend adding a bilberry supplement to your regimen. It is very high in anti-oxidants, aids in the prevention of night blindness, and obviously, in some cases, reduces intraocular pressure amd might prevent glaucoma in you.
But, as I have said before, I am not a doctor of any kind, just a fellow health-seeker. Talk to a health practitioner.
I take bilberry, just like John. Herbal Remedies.com is a great online store and information centre for all your herbal needs.
I have read enough research to believe that bilberry is indeed a source of helpful anti-oxidants that help to maintain eye health. I also use turmeric in a lot of my cooking. I love East Indian food and there are many recipes choc-a-bloc full of turmeric, which is also a very good source of folic acid. Folic acid is necessary to help prevent anaemia, as it is essential for the formation of red blood cells in the body. I’ll post some recipes.
Slurpy delicious.
Turmeric is also what makes hot dog mustard that nice bright yellow colour. The hot dog full of nitrites will kill you, but the mustard is good.
Have a veggie dog. Yves brand veggie dogs aren’t bad, especially with onions and turmeric-rich mustard on top. (And cheese, hee hee.)
If you are not big on turmeric in your food, it is also available in herbal supplement form from Herbal Remedies.com. Best quality and prices on the internet, I think. If you think otherwise, please let me know!
Now, about those pot cookies…
FOR GLAUCOMA!
Pat