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The lens and accomodation

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The lens and accomodation
#1
Hi all!

I've been researching the Bates Method, mainly using the information on this site as well as other internet sources such as Wikipedia. I've also been studying the book 'Relearning to See' by Tom Quackenbush and as well as 'Better Eyesight without Glasses' by Bates himself. I'm particularly interested in Bate's theory of accomodation and why it is not yet accepted by mainstream eye doctors and optometrists.
I'm wondering what Bates and those who who also accept his theory make of the following observation (quoted incidently from the same article in the previous post):

Quote:"The Bates Method is based on an anatomical fallacy," says Richard E. Bensinger, MD, ophthalmologist at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Wash. and clinical correspondent for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). "He developed a system that has persisted as the basis for all systems that have been designed since. The fallacy it relies on is that external muscles that control the eye's movements control focus. But in fact, the eye has an internal focusing mechanism."

The ciliary muscles, attached to the eye's flexible lens, aid focus by creating or relaxing tension on the lens. In this way, the lens curves to accommodate close-up or distance vision. (Around age 40, the lens loses flexibility, a condition called "presbyopia." That's when many people discover their arms aren't long enough to hold a newspaper.) These internal muscles are separate from the external muscles that move the eye.

"When we put drops in the eye to dilate the pupil, they paralyze the focusing muscles," says Bensinger. "The evidence of the anatomical fallacy is that you can't focus, but your eye can move up and down, left and right. The notion that external muscles affect focusing is totally wrong [my italics]."

How would those on this forum regard the above, particulary the last paragraph?

PS. I am not a Bates sceptic, and I'm often dismayed at the hostility directed at Bates and his followers by those supporting mainstream theories. Even if Bates was completely wrong about his theory, his ideas can still hold up - and speaking personally - I think they do. It's easier for people, particularly trained in orthodox medicine, to dismiss Bates and the ideas surrounding natural vision improvement, than actually reserach the subject open mindedly and try out the ideas for themselves.

Regards, JW
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#2
There are inconsistencies between research on this subject, caused not only by Bates's experiments but others' as well. They would have to be worked out before anyone should confidently state how things work. Scientists would have probably figured the whole thing out by now and gotten past all these silly hang ups if their egos weren't involved. People like to establish their conclusions and beliefs as soon as possible, and especially maintain the appearance that they know stuff.

Dave
Site Administrator

"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
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#3
Thanks for your reply, Dave. I've only just started looking into this, and it's interesting to see the inconsistances in the orthodox view come to light. I too would have thought they'd have figured it all out by now..

Rewards, JW
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#4
johnwayne Wrote:I'm particularly interested in Bate's theory of accomodation and why it is not yet accepted by mainstream eye doctors and optometrists.

Actually, Bates hypothesis about accommodation is not his. It was the mainstream hypothesis until about 1860. There were a number of problems with the idea that the EO muscles controlled accommodation. People lose their ability to accommodate around age 40 but their ability to move the eyes doesn't change. People who suffer eye trauma or brain trauma that damages the ability to move the eyes don't lose the ability to accommodate. Followig cataract surgery, the eye cannot accommodate but it suffers no loss in ability to move. Further, the lens of the eye has a complex structure and a muscle attached to it that has no function other than to change the shape of the lens. Helmholtz and Donders suggested in 1860 that the lens of the eye changes shape to effect accommodation and that the EO muscles are used only to move the eye.

Bates did not accept this new idea and clung to the old one. So it is not a question of mainstream accepting Bates' "new idea"'; mainstream has long ago moved on from the idea of EO control of accommodation to the newer idea of ciliary muscle control. Ultrasound imaging of live eyes accommodating in real time clearly shows that the lens and ciliary muscle change shape and position during accommodation while the EO muscles and eye length don't change.

It is quite possible that Bates ideas about reducing myopia are correct, but his ideas about accommodation are not.

Judy
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#5
Hi Judyb,

Yes you're right it was old theory that Bates ressurected. I did not know about the ultrasound studies on the eye, they sound very interesting. Thanks for your information, it has cleared things up a bit for me.

Cheers, JW
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#6
Judyb Wrote:Bates did not accept this new idea and clung to the old one. So it is not a question of mainstream accepting Bates' "new idea"'; mainstream has long ago moved on from the idea of EO control of accommodation to the newer idea of ciliary muscle control.

If you look at the historical documentation, you'll find that Bates accepted the mainstream view of the ciliary muscle and accommodation for about the first 30 years of his career. He was an old man by the time he really started really developing his methods of vision recovery and rejected the . So I don't think it's fair to say that he "clung" to an old idea, as that would imply that he believed one thing and refused to budge from it after everyone else moved on and changed their views...which is the opposite of what happened.

I agree that it doesn't make a whole lot of difference in the practical scheme of things. But critics seem to get hung up on this issue and ignore the actual Bates method, somehow preferring to think that the whole foundation and application of the method hinges on this issue. It's kind of a cop-out, I think.

Dave
Site Administrator

"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
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#7
Judy, David, all,

What do you make of this?

PURPOSE: The pathophysiology and pathogenesis of myopia are still a matter of controversy. Exaggerated longitudinal eye growth is assumed to play an important role in the development of myopia. A significant correlation between refraction and amount of near-work has been reported. However, current knowledge of changes of axial eye length with accommodation is limited because clinical ultrasound biometry does not provide the precision and resolution required to thoroughly investigate these phenomena. METHODS: Partial coherence interferometry (PCI), a noninvasive biometric technique, uses laser light with short coherence length in combination with interferometry to achieve precision in the micrometer to submicrometer range and resolution of 10 microm. In the present study this technique was used to investigate axial eye length changes in 11 emmetropic and 12 myopic eyes during monocular fixation at the far and near point. In 7 subjects, the contralateral eye has also been measured to investigate interocular differences in eye elongation. RESULTS: All investigated eyes elongated during accommodation.This elongation was more pronounced in emmetropes than in myopes (P < 0.001). Mean accommodation-induced eye elongations of 12.7 microm (range, 8.6-19.2 microm) and 5.2 microm (range, 2.1-9.5 microm), corresponding to a dioptric change of approximately -0.036 D and -0.015 D, were obtained for emmetropes and myopes. No significant difference in accommodative amplitudes between groups (5.1 +/- 1.2 D [range, 3.8-7.1 D] versus 4.1 +/- 2.0 D [range, 1.0-7.1 D]; P = 0.14) was detected. No significant interocular difference in accommodation-induced eye elongation was revealed (P = 0.86). Also, a mean backward movement of the posterior lens pole of 38 microm (range, 9-107 microm) was observed in both study groups. CONCLUSIONS: The detected eye elongation can be explained by the accommodation-induced contraction of the ciliary muscle, which results in forward and inward pulling of the choroid, thus decreasing the circumference of the sclera, and leads to an elongation of the axial eye length. Finally, it was demonstrated that PCI, in contrast to clinical ultrasound, is capable of characterizing eye length changes during accommodation in humans.
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#8
Dear Friend,

Subject: KILLING the eye with a drug.

After you kill the body with a drug, can you draw scientific conclusions about the behavior of the natural living eye -- by studying an artifical DEAD EYE.


Quote:"When we put drops in the eye to dilate the pupil, they paralyze the focusing muscles," says Bensinger. "The evidence of the anatomical fallacy is that you can't focus, but your eye can move up and down, left and right. The notion that external muscles affect focusing is totally wrong [my italics]."

The author of this statement is simply not correct. He is expressing a "majority-opinion" -- that, while "accepted" by most in medicine, is a scientific mistake.

It is because a concept was developed by three men, Kepler, Helmholtz, and Donders. They were honest men, but they made an "embedded" mistake in preception.

Dr. Bates attempted to "correct" this error in the Donders/Helmholtz concept (that the minus was even "safe") and was fired from his teaching position.

Dr. Bates was not wrong -- but just expressed the second-opinion, that a negative state of the LIVING (not dead) eye could be prevented by a number of "methods".

Best,

Otis
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#9
Hi JohnWayne,

No one has properly responded to your initial question. The orthodox theory is: the lens accommodates and the external eye muscles do NOT change the shape of the eye or accommodation. Therefore errors of refraction are permanent and can be corrected by glasses.

First and most importantly: Dr. Bates's first obervations that led him to disagree with this theory is that he found cases that didn't follow this theory: He cites his own work and that of contemporaries who found many examples of people who can still accommodate despite having the lens of their eye removed. Chatper III of his book provides these examples. These examples are a minority of cases, but they exist, and therefore there is a very large hole in the orthodox theory.

Further he demonstrates that vision fluctuates. Just read about all of the success stories around the web of people using the Bates method. This also goes against the orthodox thoery.

Finally, in Ch. 4 he summarizes his work he did with accommodation in animals in which he proved which extrinsic eye muscles and nerves stimulated accommodation.

These chapters of his book are summaries of published articles. This is all pure scientific observation! That maens it doesn't matter if he was wrong that only the external muscles control accommodation, he still, by his observations of the workings of the eye, successfully poked 3 very large holes in the orthodox theory that continues to prescribe a lifelong crutch instead of a cure for imperfect sight.

Best wishes,
Sorrisi
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#10
Theory:
Both lens and eye change shape?
Lens moves slightly forward and backward?
It is proven that tense outer eye muscles can change the shape of the eye and disrupt the focus of light rays, cause close and distant blur, astigmatism...
Relaxing the muscles corrects this condition.
Tense lens, iris muscles may also impair vision.
Bates method relaxes, coordinates, returns to normal function all the eye muscles and brain/visual system function.
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#11
Hi ClarkNight!

I agree with your theory, I think this is where ego gets in the way as Dave was talking about above. If this theory turned out to be true it would turn many people's careers upside down so I think no one wants to fund or push for such a study...

It's the only theory that makes sense and explains all of the facts.

A lot of OD's must know this. I read a statistic somewhere (anyone know the source? I'd be interested in noting it down) that you are less likely to get glasses prescribed (and if you do the prescription will be lower) from an ophthalmologist than from an optometrist. Ophthalmologists are doctors - I think they really care about eye health and won't prescribe glasses if they think the poor vision is temporary from too much stress or ill health at that time. Optometrists are educated salesmen - they just give you what you want, and if that is to see as well as an eagle when you walk out the door, they will give you the tool to do that.

Optometrists also care about eye health, don't get me wrong on that. I had a friend last year who was prescribed glasses to correct her squint (that was so mild she could still function just fine without them). This was accompanied by a -0.25 prescription. The optometrist told her even - if you don't wear the glasses, you'll just have this slight problem, but if you start wearing these glasses, there is a chance your myopia will get worse and you'll be dependent on glasses for the rest of your life. And afterward she still decided to get the glasses! When she told me all of this I told her about Bates, and how much those little words suck 'for the rest of your life' more than people realize. She didn't show any interest in learning it, but I did notice that she stopped wearing the glasses...
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#12
johnwayne Wrote:Judy, David, all,

What do you make of this?

RESULTS: All investigated eyes elongated during accommodation[/b].This elongation was more pronounced in emmetropes than in myopes (P < 0.001). .... corresponding to a dioptric change of approximately -0.036 D and -0.015 D, were obtained for emmetropes and myopes.

You'll notice the change in eye length was equivalent to 0.036D at the most and can be attributed to the ciliary muscle contraction. This is a very small amount as the amount of accommodation needed to read at a normal position is between 2.00D and 2.50D. Enlongation accounts thus for between 0.5% and 1.5% of accommodation.
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#13
Hey Sorris!
Nice to hear some eye docs being honest.
I have met a lot of people that wear glasses and are stubborn or afraid to try Bates.
They like to stay with the orthodox, 'so-called' professional directions from their doctor.
So brainwashed by doctors old theories, lies.
Many people I have taught Basic Bates method to wont admit to using it, but then they stop using glasses, vision improves and they like to think it was their own idea, not the Bates method.
The human ego is a main block to people accepting Bates method and passing it along to others.
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#14
Perhaps the Lens and the Oblique muscles are responsible for Accommodation.....???????

The Ciliary muscle is a muscle and I believe it needs to be relaxed just like the Oblique and Recti muscles do.

Good luck to everyone,
blauw
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#15
I believe that the sceptics said this sort of change in length in the eye was impossible because of the nature of the eye, which is why I thought the study was interesting.

Thanks for all the replies.

Cheers, JW
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