Macular Degeneration Prevention
What is Macular Degeneration?
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (known as AMD) is an eye disease that affects the retina causing loss of central vision. This disease is one of the lead causes of severe vision loss in people who are 50 years and older. The good news is that a better understanding of the disease and its risk factors can help prevent AMD and slow down it’s progression.
There are two types of AMD, dry and wet. Around 80% of people with this disease have the dry form which is the less serious type. The more rare and severe kind of AMD is the wet form. The only way to develop the wet form is when dry AMD becomes wet and therefore early detection is very important in order to prevent severe consequences. There are certain precautions that can be taken in order to ensure a healthier lifestyle which is very much related to maintaining a healthy retina and lowering the chance of developing AMD.
How can I prevent AMD?
There are various decisions we can make throughout our lifetime to decrease the chance of allowing macular degeneration to damage our visual abilities at a later stage. Don’t wait until you approach the age when developing AMD becomes common; if you take care to follow the tips discussed below you can help prevent the development of this disease. No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to make healthier lifestyle choices.
Quit Smoking
Smoking is the greatest risk factor for AMD that is in our control. According to the CDC and many research studies, smoking doubles your chance of developing AMD compared to a non-smoker. This habit causes exposure to dangerous free radicals which are unstable molecules that prevent necessary nutrients from reaching the retina. It is so important to stop smoking in order to lower your risk of developing this disease and your healthcare provider can recommend various methods to help quit as soon as possible. In addition, someone who smokes and has already been diagnosed with AMD can decrease the damage of this disease by quitting smoking.
Supplements
Thorough research, known as the Age-Related Eye Disease Studies (AREDS2), discovered that macular degeneration could be slowed down among people who are at high risk for vision loss due to macular degeneration by taking supplements containing vitamins C and E, lutein, zeaxanthin, zinc and copper. Please consult your doctor to learn if these vitamins could be helpful to you.
Some of the vitamins listed above can be found in food. For example lutein and zeaxanthin can be found in dark green and leafy vegetables like spinach and broccoli and zinc can be found in beef, milk and whole grains.
Other Health Conditions
Your overall health contributes to your eye health and specifically the risk of developing AMD. It’s important to follow your doctor’s advice on how to manage your health conditions, such as high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease by taking your prescribed medication and doing your best to keep the illness under control. High blood pressure restricts the blood flow to the eye which causes oxygen loss in the eye leading to the progression of macular degeneration and more than doubles the risk of developing wet AMD. It’s important to consult your doctor on how to lower your blood pressure in such a case. Maintaining a healthy weight is very helpful in lowering blood pressure and thus preventing macular degeneration.
Routine Eye Exams
It is crucial to schedule routine eye exams to ensure that your eye doctor can check the health of your eyes, including your retina. Anyone from age 65 (and even younger), should be checked for signs of macular degeneration as age is the greatest risk factor, clearly stated in the very name age-related macular degeneration. Also, simply knowing if AMD is in your family history can help prevent the progression of this disease. It’s important to tell your eye doctor if you have close relatives who have AMD as there are genetic components to this condition. A comprehensive eye exam can detect an early onset of macular degeneration which can greatly reduce the damage that it can cause.
Amsler Grid
A basic small poster that looks like a black and white grid is available and very helpful for early home detection. Your doctor will explain how to use this tool properly, but essentially after staring at the Amsler grid for a few seconds you can assess if the lines are starting to look wavy or seem to partially disappear. If you detect anything unusual you will know to consult your eye doctor who can check if you have developed AMD. Some of the first noticeable signs of this disease are distorted lines or blind spots in your central vision and these can be easily noticed when you regularly do a quick screening using the Amsler grid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Macular degeneration
Macular degeneration is a condition that affects people later on in life, causing major changes in day to day life functionality with the decrease of central visual abilities. It’s important to adapt healthy lifestyle changes in order to prevent the development of this disease. Regardless of what stage of life you are at now, you will definitely thank yourself later if you took the proper precautions to protect your retina from macular degeneration.