UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

I read about it somewhere that there are certain vitamins that can actually improve your KC and vision. I currently just take multivitamins each day to get my RDA, I kno its artificial but oh well! If anyone has any tips on any vitamins or any TIPS to improve the KC/vision. Your help would be grateful.

Thanks Tom [/u]

Hi Tom....I would be interested in this as well...you know...every bit helps!

yes its called Alpha Lipoic Acid

It has very powerful properties and I can say from personal experience that it does help...ive been taking it for about 4 years for other reasons as its used alot in Bodybuilding.....however it is used as a / for

1) Glucose Disposal Agent
2) very strong anti oxidant

There is extensive info on this supplement....on the web just do a search...

As part of my routine I take the following which all I beleive have helped with my KC

100ug Selenium
300mg Alpha Lipoic Acid
10mg Lycopene
5,000mg timed released vitamin C
100mg Grapeseed extract

OK guys..

anti oxidants are big news in every field of medicine..

They may well help a condition - and OK ...they cannnot HARM anything.. but they cannnot CURE.

Taking vitamins or supplements can possibly help.. but they cannot do away with the current therapies. If this was so.. then KC would have disapeared years ago. As would cataract, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration and so on..

i have to tell you that all these therapies have been tried before.. many many times..

For example.. there is a therapy going the round of the net.. "better vision without glasses.." It promotes the use of pinholes and eye excercises.. it so happens the "therapy" dates back to the 1930's and a guy called Bates who tried to cure eyesight with eye exercises.

It didn't work then and it doesn't work now. It just gets circulated every few years!

Anti-oxident therapy is the "new thing"....it may well work to a certain extent..I am not saying it won't.. just that we have been there and done that many times before and it never happened ........

What can I say..

I am not trying to say you have to give up hope on new therapies.. just that what you may think is "new" may be no such thing..

Anti - oxidant therapy was quite big in the 1930's... just went by another name.. in fact the whole 1930's raison d'etre was a better, more balanced with nature lifestyle... and it got us no further with finding cures then as it does now.

Jayuk... what can I say?? This regime may help with you.... however, your KC may have improved because it regressed.. as it does sometimes with anybody.

As professionals we cannot just go "YES!! This is the answer!!" We have to study this over a long period of time to truly say that this therapy helps... we cannot risk years of research on a possible co-incidence.

This is where professionals and patients can work together.. OK we can say to each new idea.. yeah yeah yeah ....we did that in the 1970's and BOY did it cause problems!! Equally we can say ..hmmm that is very interesting.....not tried THAT before...

We need to work together...

Lynn

Hi Jay...

Thanks for sharing that with us...I did see improvements with some minerals i tried!(If you want to know just PM...because I don't want to be "promoting" it, but they are two of the usual ones which are mentioned quite a lot!)....I know the minerals helped because the improvement goes away when i stop it.

and I certainly think it is worth a go as i have heard of others benifiting.

And the other point i wanted to say was no one has mentioned the word "CURE" on this thread?!?!?...just that they where sharing their positive experiance with us!...

Anyway thanks, Jay for sharing that...

Sajeev

Lynn

This is where we are going to fall out lol just kidding

The power of Anti Oxidant therapy, byproducts from the mitochondria cells et al is someting that was never explored and was halted when any sort of trial was even begun...for various reasons..this is largely documented during the periods of which you quoted.

Theres countless examples of people around the world who live in tribes etc who live off various foods which are rih in certain vitamins and minerals that have never known to have had the likes of cancer, heart disease, cataracts etc. Whilst I understand there are other environmental factors...I fimly beleve that Vitamins and Minerals CAN, and I stress CAN, aid in the fight against a number of diseases........but this research will never be done....why? Noone makes money from it as they are easily available....which tnen brings me onto the current Ban that is doing the rounds on Supplekements from the likes of Holland and Barret Boots, etc.......basically they want a ban on vitamins and minerals in a dose thats they determine...which is extremely low.......where would you think this pressure is coming from?...hmmmm let me guess lol...Im sure you have prob heard of the supplement ba thay are trying to pass though EU parlament which currently has been rejected...

Now what I am definately saying is that this is NOT a cure......but what I am saying s that due to the way in which ALA interacts with anti oxidants in the body and its strong properties it can ONLY but help........similar to Grapeseed extract and Lycopene....

An interesting example of this......I have a close friend whom was diagnosed with Diabetes 2 years ago....luckily it was Type 2 (Tabs if Ive got it the right way round) anyway they put her on Glucophage and she had issues with controlling blood sugar levels...so I showed her research on how ALA can control ad stabilise ablood sugar more effectively and how the studies have proved this.......she then went to her Doctors..who clearly didnt know about this......and showed him the research papers I forwarded........under his guidance she started supplemeting with ALA at 200mg per meal depending on how much Carb intake she took....and to this date TOUCH WOOD she has total control of her blood sugar..with Glucophase being the secondary choice of her glucose disposal agent............again the reason why this worked wasnt because Im an einstein...its because there is a very poor information flow model within the Medical Community within the UK....GP's, Old School Doctors, etc all get there informaton from outdated Text books and research....I have a few friends who have just becme Doctors and its that same with them..passed down, incorrect medical teachings...................

I think also KC regression isnt some paranormal activity...it happens due to a stimulus within the cell structure of the body which is caused by something..........

Ive gone way off topic here........but just thought Id give an example....so apologies for the rambling



i

Jayuk...

I am not gonna fall out with you lol..

I know full well the power of anti-oxidants... it HAS been explored I can full well tell you !

Yes I know well of tribes that live off such foods and having lived in Trinidad for three years I also know of the power of such supplements.

I am sorry to contradict you.. but research into these products is going along full steam.. it has now been established that eating spinach does reduce the effects of macular degeneration. This is after YEARS of research. But it still does not CURE it

However, as you imply in your post.. the EU has a lot to do with restricting research in these areas.

All I can say is that taking vitamins and supplements can do no harm..

They do not constitute a cure. If they did.. then KC - along with many other medical problems - would have been eliminated years ago.


Lynn

I think we are all intelligent enought to know that it is not a cure...did someone say cure?!?!?LOLOL

I know that none of the posters above mentioned a cure; I think Lynn was purely making sure that none of the non-contributing readers of this discussion got the wrong idea.