Ancestral Dietary Strategy to Prevent and Treat Macular Degeneration: Standard Print Black and White Paperback Edition

Could a simple, all-natural, whole-foods diet - the same diet of our 19th century and previous ancestors - both prevent and treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD)? According to the hypothesis and supportive research of author, Chris A. Knobbe, MD, the answer is a resounding yes. Dr. Knobbe is a both an ophthalmologist and Associate Clinical Professor Emeritus, formerly of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and he has proffered a revolutionary hypothesis for the cause of AMD, a hypothesis which holds that AMD is a disease both initiated and driven by man-made, processed, nutrient-deficient, and toxic food consumption. Knobbe's hypothesis, originally developed in late 2013, has been thoroughly researched - and virtually every last shred of evidence supports the hypothesis. Dr. Knobbe headed a research project with colleague nutrition researcher, Marija Stojanosak, MSc and several ophthalmologists in the South Pacific Islands, where AMD is rare. By correlating processed food consumption to AMD prevalence in 25 nations around the world, Knobbe found that, indeed wherever processed food consumption was greatest, AMD prevalence was highest, and wherever processed food consumption was rare (such as the Pacific Island nations of Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Kiribati), AMD was extremely rare. In short, the evidence strongly supports the hypothesis, which has major implications for both preventing and treating AMD. Knobbe's revolutionary hypothesis and supportive research is published in the November, 2017 issue of the highly regarded journal, Medical Hypotheses. He has also presented his hypothesis and supportive research more than two dozen times to both scientific and lay audiences, all around the United States, including presentations at the Ancestral Health Symposium in 2016, 2018, and 2019, the Weston A. Price Foundation in 2017 and 2018, the Christian Ophthalmology Society in 2018, and in numerous cities for the Macular Degeneration Association. Knobbe's hypothesis, supportive research, writings, and presentations have received tremendous accolades from both colleagues and fellow nutrition researchers. Ophthalmologist and retina specialist of the United Kingdom, Andrew J. Luff, MA, FRCS, FRCS(Ophtha), FRCOphth, writes, "As the prevalence of AMD escalates, the devastating consequences of visual loss take their relentless toll on individuals, families, and health economies. This epidemic continues to grow, oblivious to a plethora of research. A massive financial investment (both University-based and pharmaceutical) has made no impact on the incidence of a disease that has resisted minor nutritional tinkering and seen no significant gain from our exponentially increased knowledge of genetics. In researching our frustrating lack of success in the quest for a unifying cause of AMD, Dr. Knobbe concludes that we have been looking in the wrong place. From a meticulous examination of ophthalmic history, comparative epidemiology and dietary change across the globe, he constructs a cogent and compelling argument for defects in basic nutrition as the fundamental driver of AMD. The data are stark and the potential consequences of dietary deficiency sobering. Dr. Knobbe's rational conclusion that a shift from traditional foods can wreak havoc on macular function will come as no surprise to those who have postulated similar cause for the multitude of chronic diseases now endemic in so-called developed nations. His hypothesis is unlikely to be welcomed by those committed to pharmacological intervention. Furthermore, a radical change to the diet of billions will not happen quickly. However, for newly diagnosed patients seeking hope and clinicians struggling for an answer, Dr. Knobbe's remarkable book offers the first tangible lifeline... The visual health of many millions of people worldwide over the coming decades may depend on whether Knobbe's message is heard..." Proceeds support Cure AMD Foundation.

"In our opinion, Dr. Knobbe has uncovered an important connection between diet and age-related macular degeneration that has the potential to prevent hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people from progressing to the advanced stages of this disease.

-- Editorial Board, Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, Price-Pottenger Journal of Health and Healing, Summer - 2017

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"I have found Dr Knobbe's theory well researched and presented in his book. Although no one can accurately say exactly what the incidence of AMD was in the early 1900's, he presents a compelling argument, based in fact, that not only is AMD on the rise and reaching epidemic proportions, but it's coincident with the introduction of processed, nutrient deficient, foods. Perhaps most compelling is, after reading his book, I now find myself taking extra chair time to discuss dietary issues with my patients. I would say this is a must read for any eyecare provider, but particularly those practicing primary eyecare with the goal of preventing AMD."

-- Micah W. Rothstein, MD Ophthalmologist, Eye Care Center of Northern Colorado

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"Dr. Knobbe's thesis that macular degeneration is due to dietary causes is well-supported by his research. Drawing on the observations of Dr. Weston A. Price, who studied traditional cultures living on unrefined and unprocessed foods, the author makes his point quite clearly: Our present-day diet is a major culprit in the proliferation of not only AMD, but most likely for many other degenerative diseases of civilization as well. Here is where so many current studies are woefully behind; the answers are right in front of us if we dare to look. Dr. Knobbe has done just that, and he deserves great credit for bringing this topic to the public with this very readable book."

-- Ed Bennett, President, Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation

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"Dr. Knobbe, I heard your lecture at the Christian Ophthalmology Society meeting. I want to congratulate you on your research into your discovery/hypothesis as I found it to be profound and surprising. It has potential to alleviate more preventable blindness than any multi-billion dollar anti-VEGF [wet AMD drugs] industry. I just wanted to encourage your efforts and hopefully this isn't something that's looked back on in a century as a missed opportunity."

-- Jonathan P. Walgama, MD, General Ophthalmologist, Longview, Texas

Chris A. Knobbe, MD is an ophthalmologist and Associate Clinical Professor Emeritus, formerly of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Knobbe, a native of Colorado, graduated from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1990, completed a transitional internship at Denver Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Centers, and then a three-year ophthalmology residency at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, in Denver. After seven years in private practice, Knobbe joined the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center as an Assistant Clinical Professor, a position he held until 2017. On a more personal note, at the age of 34, Dr. Knobbe began to suffer with arthritis, which progressed markedly over the next 16 years. At the age of 50 and after seeking the advice and treatment of nearly a dozen physician colleagues, Knobbe finally found dramatic relief - however, not by any traditional medicine or procedure - but rather by altering his diet towards a more "Paleo" way of eating. This was a life-changing event for Knobbe, which sparked his interest in discovering as much as possible about the prophylactic and healing powers of food. The nutritional journey was a long and arduous one with peaks and valleys, until Knobbe discovered the research of Weston A. Price. Price completed an epic volume of nutritional anthropology and wrote a nutritional treatise in his book entitled, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, which was published in 1939 followed by a second edition in 1945. Price detailed numerous discoveries in a nearly decade-long interval of on-the-ground research, in which he evaluated numerous populations on five continents as they transitioned from native, traditional diets, to Westernized diets, the latter of which were replete with man-made, processed, nutrient-deficient and toxic foods. Such diets led to numerous diseases of civilization and the previously healthy suffered numerous maladies. In 2013, Knobbe envisioned that Westernized food consumption might also be the primary driver of the disease age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss and blindness worldwide. This led to a revolutionary hypothesis, that is, that AMD might be a disease of processed food consumption, rather than a disease caused by aging and genetics as allopathic ophthalmology has believed for decades. In early 2015, with enough research to believe that the hypothesis would be supported by epidemiologic evidence, Knobbe left practice to pursue investigation of the hypothesis on a full-time basis. Some eighteen months later, the fundamental research with AMD prevalence correlated to processed food consumption in 25 nations was complete. More importantly, the evidence strongly supported the hypothesis. On August 12, 2016, Dr. Knobbe made the debut presentation of his revolutionary hypothesis for the cause of AMD at the Ancestral Health Symposium, held at the University of Colorado Boulder. He's made dozens of presentations in cities across the U.S. since then, published a scientific paper in the journal Medical Hypotheses, and has founded Cure AMD Foundation(TM), the latter being a nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) status in support of this cause. Dr. Knobbe's hypothesis, scientific paper and book, while accepted by numerous physicians and ophthalmologists, has not resulted in broad supportive dietary advice by mainstream allopathic ophthalmology. However, ancestral nutrition researchers and progressive physicians now understand that the exact same advice (ancestral diets) is preventing all the diseases of civilization, including heart disease, hypertension, stroke, cancers, type 2 diabetes, obesity, autoimmune disorders, and so much more. Thus, Dr. Knobbe continues his work -- at saving vision. Come join those who are saving their own vision, in this revolution!