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COMMENTARY: For Those Who Will Not See

Lizbeth Ryan • Aug 03, 2017

It is estimated that about 15 million Americans are legally blind, or 5% of our population. I hope you will help enlighten our community and your readers of the difficulties people with vision disorders face in a world made for those who can see.

December 12, 2011

Dear Editor,

I called a local Bentonville restaurant one Friday afternoon and asked to reserve two seats at the bar. It is the only area in that restaurant that can accommodate a blind person – the light is decent, not great, just OK. They said no; they didn’t reserve specific tables. I asked if they’d reconsider since my friend has a vision problems. “I’m over fifty and wear glasses so I understand,” was the response. She didn’t understand. This man uses a white cane, I explained. They reluctantly agreed.

The word “blind” does not necessarily mean “no” vision. There is a misconception that either you can see or you can’t. There are infinite variations and levels and patterns of sight, or a person’s ability to see. Legally blind is defined as having a visual acuity of 20/200 (what a person with good vision sees at 200 feet, the legally blind person sees at 20 feet.) They can still see, they just don’t see well enough to drive or read for instance. And then there are those whose vision is much worse.

So what do visually challenged people see in their visual field? Some have tunnel vision as in cases of Retinitis Pigmentosa, or have lost central vision to Macular Degeneration. Others have patches of decent vision mixed with blind spots, and others have generally low vision with no blind spots. Some have good vision for reading but can see nothing at a distance, as with myopia. The variations are infinite.

One thing they do have in common; like the rest of us, they are consumers, and they wish to partake in all the activities available to the general population; their interests being as varied as those of you and I. They like to eat in restaurants, go to museums and concerts, and shop at malls. They are consumers, consuming everything from art and music to food and clothing.

I find that in almost all the restaurants I go to for dinner the lights are annoyingly dim, and my vision is good. I don’t turn the lights down in my dining room at home; why would I want them low in a restaurant? I work with low vision patients and listen as they talk about these issues. Across the board, everybody, those with good sight and bad, all express an irritation at the fact that so many eating establishments are too dark to enjoy the meal. If you ask them to turn up the lights, many will offer flashlights. If flashlights are necessary to read the menu, then the lights are too low for anyone. And what about seeing your food? Isn’t that important? What are these restaurants trying to hide? Not all restaurants are badly lit. The Olive Garden goes out of its way to help. They not only have great lighting at every table, they offer menus in Braille and large print. Perhaps someone in the corporate office has a family member with poor sight.

According to the Braille Institute every 7 minutes someone in the United States loses his or her sight; 21% of persons over the age of 65 report visual impairment (7.3 million.) About 82 percent of all people who are visually impaired are age 50 or older, meaning, most don’t read Braille. Furthermore, most don’t use white canes or have guide dogs, so they are generally not noticed or tagged as disabled, unlike those in wheelchairs. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) recommends little to businesses for accommodating the blind, and basically no requirements. Most of what the ADA requires for the visually impaired relates to employment.

One of the biggest nightmares for a blind person, I am told, is using a public restroom. Imagine being alone and having to feel around to find the toilets and urinals. Family restrooms, those single restrooms provided occasionally in stores and malls allows a mother to help her son or husband help a wife with one of the most basic human functions (very few airports offer these – XNA does, and so does Walmart and Sam’s club.) Two years ago when my blind friend and I went to the Clinton Museum, a beautiful structure in Little Rock, the bathrooms were dimly lit and decorated in a monochromatic gray, very modern, but terrible for the visually impaired. I had to find a security guard to help him. All white is just as bad. Blind people need contrast, making it possible to distinguish between fixtures, walls and floors, not to mention the exit. Why not paint the doorframe a different color, and the walls anything but white or gray?

Going up and down stairs is difficult enough for the blind, especially when there are no handrails. Even worse, the handrail disappears before the end of the staircase. In the Sage Center, a Music Hall in Gateshead, England, the handrails are equipped with touch-sensitive raised dots that get smaller as you reach the end.

I remember when the ADA was being considered. There was public outcry at the expense necessary to comply with making the improvements to accommodate wheelchairs. An estimated 1.6 million Americans residing outside of institutions use wheelchairs according to data from the National Health Interview Survey on Disability. Compare this to the Braille Institute figure of 7.3 million visually impaired over the age of 65, (this does not include those under 65.) Retrofitting our world to accommodate this relatively large proportion of our population, the “blind,” does not have to be expensive; it requires no concrete or changes to structures, only a little paint, imagination and consideration.

When people lose vision late in life, there is little available to help them cope in a world designed for those with eyes to see. They rely on the consideration, compassion and assistance of others. Many become depressed and retreat into a dark, isolated world. Let’s invite them to join in all the activities that the rest of us enjoy.

LIZBETH RYAN IS AN ACUPUNCTURIST IN ROGERS WHO SPECIALIZES IN ACUPUNCTURE FOR THE VISUALLY CHALLENGED.

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Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine An Effective Treatment for Weight Loss

By Lizbeth Ryan • 19 Sep, 2022

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicines, (TCM or traditional Chinese medicine is a combination of using traditional Chinese herbs, acupuncture, body work, diet and exercise) when coupled with healthy eating choices, can be a tremendously helpful tool for meeting your body weight goals. Healthy weight loss takes time, no matter what method you use. And nothing will make you lose weight. But TCM and dietary changes can help you lose weight. Changes in thinking, diet, and lifestyle are also necessary. DIETARY CHANGES: You will never lose weight if you don’t consider necessary dietary changes. Cutting down on the amount you eat comes first. Makes sense, right? But often patients tell me they eat very little, but still hold those unwanted pounds. This indicates internal imbalances that need to be corrected so the metabolism can function properly. When our system is weak we produce Phlegm and fat from our foods instead of good nutrition, qi* and blood. Adipose tissue, fatty tumors, plaque, bone spurs, kidney stones, are examples of what is included in the Chinese concept of Damp and Phlegm**. Making healthy food choices such as limiting carbs, eating clean unadulterated foods, avoiding additives especially hormones, steroids, and antibiotics, and preservatives, avoiding icy cold drinks and cold, raw foods, eliminating all aspartame or other artificial sweeteners, together can be an effective treatment for weight loss. When we ingest unwanted chemical additives, preservatives, antibiotics, hormones and such, our body will build fat to protect itself against these unwanted invaders. Energy is required to process and rid the body of the toxins. If you want to lose weight you will have to read labels. If you don’t recognize ingredients and can’t pronounce them, don’t buy it. Commercial meats, dairy and eggs contain steroids, antibiotics and growth hormones. All of these will make you fat! And never eat anything that claims to be low fat or sugar free. Fat is good, sugar is bad. Only eat fats that are healthy – coconut oil, butter, extra virgin olive oil. Try to avoid all sugar. Stevia is a great alternative, but don’t use too much. It is 100 times sweeter than sugar so be careful. How does acupuncture help with weight loss? It helps to restore balance, and supplies the energy to transform food to good stuff, instead of bad stuff (fat). It is especially helpful for those who try to lose weight but nothing seems to help. When you are young and healthy it’s easy to lose those 10 extra pounds. As we age, and the imbalances build and multiply, we end up not being able to budge the scale. I advise avoiding extreme diets, for several reasons. As humans, we can survive in a variety of climates and difficult environmental situations. Until recently we didn’t have trucking, large scale farming, greenhouse gardens. We ate what was available and were strong and healthy in spite of being seriously limited in our food choices. During difficult times, humans depended on animal protein and fat. Vegetables, fruits, seeds, roots and such were available in limited supply. Grains were not eaten. Think Paleo diet. Low carb diets can be a great way to lose weight, but should only be used until you reach your weight goals and then start to introduce healthy carbs a little at a time. The keto diet which is a high fat, high protein diet is the only diet that has possible side effects. This certainly makes me wonder. It can be hard on the kidneys. Finally, snacking between meals will make it almost impossible to lose weight. This is another example of a habit. When you find yourself going for that snack cabinet, have a glass of room temperature water and give it a few minutes. You’ll probably forget you wanted a snack. LIFESTYLE CHANGES: We are all victims of our habits. The biggest challenge for helping people lose weight is to convince them that they are acting habitually. Anything that is bad for the body will become addictive. The way we think about our food is a good example. If you think that eating will make you fat, it will. When you eat think of it as nourishing, no matter what it is. Ice water is another good example of a common addition that contributes to weight gain. Using ice to cool water is a fairly recent practice. So is obesity. Most people are under the misconception that ice water is good for you. Your body is about 100 degrees, water is zero degrees. When you ingest icy cold water, it causes your body to generate heat, and depletes your energy in the process. The unnatural, unwanted heat causes stagnation so that we feel cold, but we are, in fact, hot. So instead of metabolizing your food, all your energy goes to adjusting, readjusting and then readjusting again. Taking medications often contributes to weight gain. One should take as little pharmaceuticals as possible since no one knows how more than any two medications will interact. I see many patients who are on many medications, sometimes as many as twenty different prescriptions. And the astounding thing is that they don’t have any diagnosable disease or condition. All their symptoms are due to side effects. You gotta let go of our need to medicate. Over medicating makes us sick, tired, depressed and fat! Exercise is vital to losing weight. You don’t have to be extreme, just start by taking walks, ten minutes at a time, simple stretches, and learning how to take an occasional deep breath. Meditation is also helpful since it helps reduce stress and makes you feel happier. Stress, depression and anxiety cause an increase in the stress hormone cortisol. This causes an increase in insulin levels causing blood sugar to drop so you will crave sugar and carbs. Drinking water is important. People drink water to hydrate, and often to flush out toxins. Keep in mind that over drinking water can flush out the good nutrients we are trying to absorb through our digestive tract. When you feel thirst drink a big glass of water. This will hydrate you whereas if you sip water you will get over the feeling of thirst but you may not be hydrating. When you feel tired, a glass of water can help you feel better as well. Helping people lose weight takes effort and patience. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine carry thousands of years of experience in keeping people fit. I start by asking lots of questions to determine what Pattern this particular patient exhibits. Patterns are the presenting signs and symptoms the person has experienced over the last several months. There are over 200 patterns in TCM practice. Once we determine the pattern, we know what acupuncture treatment and herbs to use. Finally, I use an auricular acupuncture treatment that helps with weight loss. Nutritional and lifestyle counseling are part of the treatment course. *Qi is the term used for the energy that warms us, propels us, transform food into nutrients. It is the spark of lifeforce that gives us life. ** Capital letters are used to designate when words such as Damp, Phlegm and Heat are used within the context of Chinese medicine theory and practice.