Does the Bates method work?  I first heard about it in this newsgroup
several years ago, and I have just got hold of a book, "How to improve your
sight - simple daily drills in relaxation", by Margaret D. Corbett,
('Authorized instructor of the Bates method), published in 1953.  It
talks about vision improvement by relaxation and exercise.  Has there been
any study on whether this method actually works?  If it works, is it by
actually shortening the previously elongated eyeball, or by increasing
the lens's ability to flatten itself in order to compensate for the
too-long eyeball?

Since myopia is the result of eyeball elongation, seems to me the most
logical approach for correction is to find a way to reverse the process,
i.e., shorten it somehow (preferably non-surgically).  Has there been
any recent studies on this?  Where can I find them?  I know RK works by
changing the curvature of the cornea to compensate for the shape of
eyeball, but if there is a way to train the muscles to shorten the
eyeball back to its correct length that would be even better (Bates's
idea, right?)

Thanks for any information.

Dr. willian Horatio Bates born 1860 and graduated from med school
1885.  Medical career hampered by spells of total amnesia.  Published in
1920, his great work "The Cure of Imperfect Eyesight by Treatment With-
out Glasses", He made claims about how the eye actually works that are
simply NOT TRUE.  Aldous Huxley was one of the more "high profile"
beleivers in his system.  Mr. Huxley while giving a lecture on Bates system
forgot the lecture that he was supposedely reading and had to put the
paper right up to his eyes and then resorted to a magnifying glass from
his pocket.  book have been written debunking this technique, however
they remain less read than the original fraud.  cheers

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