I went for my sight test several months ago, four months overdue, and was stunned to be told I had glaucoma and was going blind in one eye. The pressure in my eye was 34, whereas normal eye pressure is between 15 and 25. A second optician confirmed the diagnosis.

As I have over 50 food and chemical allergies, I immediately began to worry about the possibility of having an operation, coping with the anaesthetic.

I also wondered how on earth I would go about explaining to sceptical and patronising medical staff that one of my most violent allergens is chlorinated tap water.

When I got home, however, my mother got out the glaucoma article in WDDTY (vol 2, no 3), which I studied carefully. From that day I immediately halved my intake of strong black coffee, cut out alcohol completely, and took extra supplements of vitamin A, E, C, B1, B2 and B6, as suggested in the article.

Two months later I had my eyes examined again by another, non patronising, specialist who found no sign of glaucoma. The pressure is now "perfect" and I have nothing wrong with my eyes other than the need to wear glasses.

Rather tentatively, I told him what I had done, as naturally he thought the original optician had made a mistake. He said that while he thinks there may be something in vitamin therapy, more proof is needed.

As far as I'm concerned, it has to be the vitamins and other dietary changes, as my medical diet is still the same.

Many thanks for your article it saved me the trauma of a hospital stay. And let's face it, even if I had been clutching various WDDTY booklets on how to handle doctors and survive hospitals, an operation would still have been a traumatic experience. G R, Edinburgh.