Macular degeneration is a very common condition which in many cases may lead to partial or complete vision loss and blindness. According to the National Eye Institute, NIH there is no cure.
Recently I met with Richard Niemtzow, MD, a radiation oncologist who currently serves as the head of all acupuncture-related services for the Armed Forces. He has devoted much of his life to pioneering new approaches to curing such conditions as dry mouth, battlefield acupuncture for pain , and other areas of medicine. Dr. Niemtzow has a PhD in electronics and is a prolific researcher and writer in the field of medical applications of acupuncture.
Dr. Niemtzow has made a discovery that may change the way in which the medical profession helps people with blindness and vision loss from macular degeneration.
Using just two points on the body and a very low level electrical current between the points, he has shown that macular degeneration vision loss can be rapidly eliminated. He has just returned from Vietnam where a research trial of this approach was conducted with patients at an ophthalmology center in Saigon ( Ho Chi Minh City). The results were astounding with all the patients experiencing immediate return of vision. He told me that several treatments may be required for long term benefit but even the limited results are impressive considering that there is currently no cure for this ailment.
The procedure takes little time, may be done in an outpatient setting, is cost effective, involves no drugs, surgery or injections into the eyes, all of which are mentioned by NIH as current approaches, none of which seem truly helpful, to this problem.
I hope to be working with Dr Niemtzow to offer this treatment to patients in the near future. He told me that when the data from the work in Vietnam has been received and processed, he will publish it.
Osteopathic diagnosis and treatment also has much to offer in restoration of normal function, physiology to the eye and we hope to add this as well to make the treatment even more effective.