As an eye disease, the characteristic that greatly reduces the quality of life is probably the loss of vision. If you suddenly lose sight of the person you were able to see well until yesterday, everyone will inevitably fall into a great sense of loss. Although cataract, glaucoma, and macular degeneration are known worldwide as the three major causes of blindness, in Korea, there are more cases of blindness due to diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and glaucoma, complications of diabetes, than from cataract. Retinopathy is the most common cause of blindness.
Diabetic retinopathy is one of the most common complications of diabetes, in which blood vessels supplying nutrients and oxygen to the retina, which receive visual information and transmit it to the optic nerve, are damaged due to high blood sugar, and blood and body fluids leak out, causing swelling of retinal tissue and blurred vision. to be. At first, there are no symptoms or only mild vision problems, but prolonged high blood sugar due to diabetes increases the risk of blindness.
Diabetes mellitus causes various complications because it worsens arteriosclerosis and damages blood vessels and nerves that perform important functions. Atherosclerosis is a symptom in which a substance such as fat accumulates on the walls of blood vessels to form a blood clot (thrombus), which blocks the blood vessel and narrows the blood vessel, preventing smooth blood supply. Since nutrients and oxygen are not properly supplied to the blood vessels, the blood vessels are damaged, and the nerves that were supplied with nutrients and oxygen through these blood vessels are also damaged.
When the blood vessels that supply nutrients and oxygen to the retina are damaged, the eyes try to supply blood by making new blood vessels. These newly created blood vessels do not develop properly and blood and body fluids can easily leak from the new blood vessels. disease arises.
Diabetic retinopathy is so common that the National Eye Institute estimates that more than two in five Americans with diabetes are at some stage of diabetic retinopathy. Because it takes time, it is possible to maintain vision in the long run by slowing or stopping vision loss, depending on the effort you put in.
When diabetic retinopathy is confirmed, a drug that reduces inflammation and prevents the formation of new blood vessels can be injected into the eye or a laser can be used to prevent blood leakage from the blood vessels, and if diabetic retinopathy has progressed In some cases, surgery is performed to remove and replace the gel-like liquid behind the eyes, but it is not easy to completely prevent vision loss. very important.
Diabetic retinopathy is more likely to develop as diabetes continues for a longer period of time, and high blood pressure and cholesterol levels increase the risk of developing diabetic retinopathy. It is a good way to lower the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol are the best way to make New Start a daily life.
It is not much different from diabetes, high blood pressure, or hyperlipidemia to cure all lifestyle-related diseases that occur in our body. All the problems that occur in the body while we live can be recovered by the best masters in the genes of cells, and if the wrong lifestyle interferes with recovery, we get diabetes and diabetic retinopathy. In this case, even if humans who are not familiar with the sophisticated system contained in genes find a way to artificially lower blood sugar, that does not mean that diabetes will be cured.
If we understand how the best master prepared in our body works through genes, there is no difference between how to prevent and cure diabetes or how to prevent and heal COVID-19 by increasing immunity. It is enough to get rid of bad lifestyle habits that damage genes or prevent genes from turning on, and to create a good environment for genes to work, that is, a new start (refer to Life Story 6).
Among the eight items of New Start, the first life food is to eat a wide variety of whole plant foods, including various fruits, vegetables, and grains, and not to eat certain foods. It is also important to reduce the intake of refined bad carbohydrates, saturated and trans fats, salt and alcohol.
At the same time, it is important to practice the rest of the New Start items: exercise, water, sunlight, moderation, air, rest, trust and love.
Jaeho Kim Independent Researcher