How Do Hormones Influence Macular Degeneration (AMD)?
By Li Zheng and edited by Allan
Mrs. O’Connor was born to a middle-class family in Lake Worth Florida.
Her parents both worked as professors at FAU in Boca Raton.
They encouraged her to study hard in order to attain knowledge, complete her degree, and assure a good future.
She typically spent over 8 hours at the computer studying for her medical school career.
She was accepted by FAU medical school in Boca Raton and finished her residency with honors at a West Palm Hospital.
When she was 30 years old, she married another doctor, who works at a clinic in Lake Worth.
They bought a beautiful house close to the beach in Lake Worth and started planning to have children when she was 36 years old.
When she turned 35, she started working as a radiologist, making over half a million dollars at the Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
Unfortunately, she had been trying to get pregnant naturally without success for over a year.
The couple went to a fertility clinic, which has two good endocrinologists, in Boca Raton Florida.
After a year of IUI and IVF procedures, Mrs. O’Connor finally got pregnant giving birth to a healthy baby girl; combining both acupuncture and IVF procedures.
The demands of working as a radiologist in a Boca Hospital, as well as taking care of her child at home resulted in her stress level increasing dramatically.
When she turned 40 years old, she experienced very heavy bleeding, and pain during each menstrual period, which was diagnosed as endometriosis.
The quick fix was to remove her uterus and ovaries (total hysterectomy).
She is a doctor and believed that this would solve her pain during her periods.
She thought having no period will help her cope with stress more efficiently than suffering through the emotional changes and severe pain during each menstrual period.
A few years after her surgery by a very famous gynecologist at a Miami Hospital, she noticed that her vision started changing.
She made several unusual observations, related to the upper left vision field of her left eye:
- Straight lines or lines of typed characters appeared wavy, and were not straight.
- Upon entering a brighter room from a darker room, she observed halos around objects in the same area where the wavy lines appeared.
She promptly went to see an ophthalmologist in Palm Beach who was recommended by her parents; to get her optic nerves and macular health checked.
The ophthalmologist in Palm Beach told her she had early onset of macular degeneration and that there was no cure.
She was only 40 years old at that time, and the prospect of losing her vision would have catastrophic effects on her career.
Her job at the Boca Hospital requires excellent vision in order to read and interpret radiological film for her patients.
She researched information about macular degeneration, and discovered that the Boca Acupuncture Clinic is specialized in treating macular degeneration, glaucoma and dry eyes.
She made an appointment with Boca Acupuncturist Li Zheng, and was informed that her kidney function may be weak due to her high stress level, and as a result of having had a hysterectomy.
She had very low blood pressure, and her retina cannot get sufficient blood flow, a condition which is aggravated by her staring at computer screen for over 6 hours each day.
Obviously, she did not want to quit her job at the Boca Raton Hospital, or change careers; and decided to pursue an alternate form of treatment.
She started acupuncture treatments for her macular degeneration (AMD); twice a week for 10 weeks, then once a week for another 20 weeks, as well as herbal treatment to help strengthen her kidney function, and improve the condition of her digestive system.
After 6 months of acupuncture and herbal treatment, she underwent another checkup by the ophthalmologist in Palm Beach.
She was informed that the swelling in her macular tissue was almost gone, and that there were no fluids leaking from the blood vessels in her macular.
Furthermore, her vision was improved:
- The lines in the upper left corner of her field of vision now appear straight and she does not see the halos when she enters bright areas.
She still needs to work in dark room reading radiology film for over 6 hours a day at the Boca Hospital; hence, her work environment has not changed.
She continues to see her Boca acupuncturist once a week, and practices meditation every day, including acupressure on specific acupuncture points to improve the circulation to her eyes.
In this case, the hysterectomy may have contributed to a sudden decline of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, which can lead to early onset of macular degeneration.
Furthermore, high stress, and long-term computer usage could also have contributed to poor macular circulation, and inflammation of her retina.
Acupuncture and Herbs helped improve blood circulation to her retina, and reduce the retinal inflammation.
The damaged nerves take longer to regenerate and re-establish correct connections, and functionality, however proper treatment can result in improved nervous system functionality, and vision improvements within a few weeks.
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