Hi Eugene -
Thanks for your kind commentary.
People always assume you are lying to them, when you suggest that prevention (at 20/40) is even possible. In effect, the OD in his shop, will tell you that Dr. Colgate is lying.
Here is some more commentary on prevention at 20/40, (self-measured -1 diopter) for your interest. No, Stirling did not "cure myopia", he PREVENTED negative status for his normal eyes - if you want exact language.
PREVENTION IS DIFFICULT
We should learn from the man who successfully defeated the myopia situation. Dr. Stirling Colgate details his struggle and success with the problem in the following paragraphs.
"Science has progressed to understanding this mechanism of slow adaptation of the relaxed focal length (focal state) of the eye to its average focal environment. A significant number (several dozen) professional people in ophthalmology and related disciplines have empirically and intuitively come to the same conclusions (that nearsightedness is preventable) and unsuccessfully attempted, even with the dedication of a lifetime, to reverse the orthodox view of solely genetically determined eye focus."
WHY DO SO FEW PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THIS?
"It is perhaps worth speculating why there has not been any prior recognition by the medical and optometry professions of the approach to the management of eyesight focus. I believe there are many additional 'reasons' but I have heard these:"
"Nearsightedness is not a very severe handicap, and mostly those affected are studious anyhow and don't need distance vision."
"It is not a problem for medicine and so medical doctors are not concerned."
"If you don't want to be nearsighted, give up reading."
"Negative lenses that correct nearsightedness are relatively cheap and easy to wear so why bother with another approach."
"Glasses are a status symbol of the intellectual."
"Contact lenses make nearsightedness even less of a problem."
"Only recently has nearsightedness become a severe problem -- it is both more prevalent and, because of earlier onset, leads to progressive myopia."
"Traditionally, medicine treats or cures the symptom and, only recently, is preventative medicine respected."
"Only very recently is there a rational scientific explanation for the scientific observation of the developmental mechanism of the normal eye."
"Only the last statement is acceptable to me. So now that there is such a scientific basis, let's get on with the solution."
HOW DR. COLGATE DEFEATED THE PROBLEM
"Now I assume that you are young, 8 to 20 years old; have recently (within months) started or gone nearsighted and don't want to go on with thicker and thicker negative lenses for distant vision. You buy and wear positive lens reading glasses for all your reading -- or anything up close, and even for some of the rest of the time. You might get a bit of a headache at first; if so, decide which comes first -- the headache or myopia, and adjust the use of the positive lenses accordingly. Monitor your own mean relaxed focus, i.e., distance vision at least once a day.
"I may or may not be average but it took me only 2 weeks when I was 14 years old to return my initial myopia (about 20/80) to normal vision, i.e., (20/20) eyesight. (20/20 vision means that you can see at 20 feet what a "normal" person sees at 20 feet.) Twenty feet is almost the same as infinity; (20/80) vision is the start of myopia. I could see at 20 feet what good eyes could see at 80 feet. I was studious, slightly shy, introverted type -- which also included, fortunately for me, a course in physics at that age. That is when I first understood the simple facts about lenses and optics and the absurdity of using a negative lens when I was becoming nearsighted.
"I bought my own reading glasses in the dime store. They were plus 2.5 diopters and stronger than I needed, but they did the trick in a hurry. If you catch the start of myopia before the lens muscle spasm leads to irreversible lengthening of the eyeball (change of focal state), then it seems that the eyesight returns to 'normal' rapidly.
"If you make up your mind what value the mean relaxed focal distance you want in life, you can manage or lead your eye to that condition. When several times I lost my reading glasses during the war (World War II), I could not get them replaced by military optometrists because my glasses were not orthodox. I rapidly became myopic again; at 17 I read a lot in the Merchant Marine. I restored my vision to 20/20 as soon as I could purchase positive lens reading glasses when I returned to the States.
"During the war there was much social pressure to get into the officers' college training programs, but 20/20 was required. A few optometrists recognized the need and they prescribed positive lens glasses for myopic young people who desperately wanted to get into the Navy V-12 training program. This technique worked for many who were moderately myopic. An optometrist at Cornell was surprised that I had been doing this successfully since the age of 14.
WHAT WE SHOULD LEARN FROM DR. COLGATE
Nearsightedness prevention is possible -- if the work is done properly.
You must have the internal competence and desire to do the job logically and consistently, and must have a compelling personal reason to want to succeed.
The effort must be conducted as soon as the situation is detected (20/40, -1/2 diopter myopia)
You must take the time to learn and understand the behavior of the normal eye.
