Macular degeneration is an eye disease that damages the macula, a small area on the retina (the inside back layer of your eye). Macular degeneration may result in blurry or dark areas in central vision but usually does not impact peripheral vision.

Macular degeneration comes in two varieties – dry and wet. You can prevent or slow the progression of both types with healthy diet, regular eye exams and treatment as necessary.

Avoid Smoking

Macular degeneration (AMD), also referred to as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), affects more than 10 million Americans and causes damage to the macula, leading to blurred vision. Unfortunately, this disease does not have a cure; however it can be prevented and treated through healthy lifestyle choices including quitting smoking, eating a nutritious diet with regular physical exercise and taking the recommended amounts of antioxidant vitamins and minerals daily.

Smoking dramatically increases your risk of AMD and can hasten its progression. Smoking narrows eye blood vessels, decreasing supply of nutrients. Because smoking decreases this supply, smokers also face greater chances of cataract development; in fact, smoking doubles this risk.

Macular degeneration’s early stages are marked by a gradual loss of central vision over time, usually over months or years and in both eyes. While most don’t notice at first, symptoms usually become evident as soon as it becomes difficult reading dimly lit menus or seeing friends and family faces clearly.

Smoking and having a family history of AMD increases your risk significantly, along with age, race (people of European descent are at greater risk), and having light-colored eyes.

Macular degeneration can be prevented with regular comprehensive eye examinations every two years. These exams allow your ophthalmologist to detect changes in your eyes that could indicate the beginnings of diabetes or cardiovascular disease; plus dilating pupils helps identify any early symptoms so treatment can start immediately.

Get Regular Eye Exams

The macula is the central area of your retina that sends visual signals directly to your brain for seeing. It enables us to read, drive, recognize faces and colors, as well as many other activities we take for granted every day. When macular degeneration strikes, however, its disease causes this area of your retina to weaken causing blurriness or dark spots to form in central vision – but there are treatments available including certain vitamins or dietary modifications; regular eye exams also helps.

Macular degeneration comes in two varieties, dry and wet. Dry macular degeneration develops as tiny yellow protein deposits called drusen appear under the retina, without initially leading to any loss of vision; over time they may grow larger and distort or blur central vision. Wet macular degeneration occurs less commonly but its damage occurs faster due to abnormal blood vessels growing under retina that leak fluid into it or form scar tissue beneath, rapidly leading to visual loss.

Beraja Medical Institute’s team of eye doctors perform comprehensive eye exams that examine for signs of macular degeneration such as drusen and changes to your vision, using charts known as Amsler grids to detect any wavy lines or missing parts of central vision. Furthermore, an ocular angiogram can be performed to check blood vessels for leakage of fluid or scarring of blood vessels.

Beraja Medical Institute suggests scheduling an annual eye exam to detect macular degeneration early and screen for other conditions more likely to surface as we age, such as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Our team can also screen for other related issues that might develop with age such as glaucoma.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Diets that promote heart and body health also offer many advantages for eye health, with studies suggesting a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains could potentially slow macular degeneration progression.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye condition that affects the retina at the back of the eye, typically leading to central vision loss but typically not leading to blindness. There are two forms of AMD: dry macular degeneration and wet macular degeneration. With dry AMD, tissue degradation leads to yellow deposits called drusen which place metabolic strain on the macula that ultimately lead to its progressive loss of vision. With wet AMD abnormal blood vessels can grow under the retina and leak fluid under pressure causing severe vision loss; as these abnormal blood vessels bleed or leak they damage macula tissue further accelerating loss of vision loss over time.

Recent research indicates that certain nutrients may help slow the progression of wet macular degeneration. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish and nuts may provide this essential nutrition; especially important are antioxidants like lutein, zeaxanthin, zinc, vitamins C and E found in spinach kale blueberries salmon nuts etc as these contribute to eye health. Your doctor may also suggest nutritional supplements. Furthermore, laser therapy has proven itself useful in some cases of wet macular degeneration.

Exercise Regularly

Macular degeneration (AMD), also referred to as Age-Related Macular Degeneration, is a progressive eye condition which affects the central part of your retina called the macula, which allows you to see fine detail when driving, watching television or signing your name. Macular degeneration is one of the leading causes of vision loss among people aged 50+ living in developed nations; leading to severe visual impairment or legal blindness for many older individuals over 50 and legal blindness for those over 70 in these same countries. Macular degeneration causes central vision decline while leaving peripheral (side/side/color vision unaffected.)

Age-related macular degeneration can be avoided and its progression slowed with simple measures, including quitting smoking, eating healthily and engaging in regular physical activity – studies show those who regularly exercise were up to 70% less likely to develop macular degeneration than those leading sedentary lives.

Studies suggest that regular exercise can increase blood flow to the eye and improve its function, though more research needs to be conducted in this area. Other good habits to form include getting enough restful sleep and wearing glasses that block 99-100% UVA/UVB rays when outdoors (sunglasses rated with such protection may also help).

Beginning early with these effective practices is key to protecting your eyesight for as long as possible. If you would like more information on protecting your eye health, speak with an ophthalmologist or optometrist at Beeve Vision Care Center now – they offer everything from routine exams and cataract surgeries to treatment for glaucoma and more!

See Your Ophthalmologist

Macular degeneration is a condition in which there is a progressive breakdown or degradation of your macula, an area in your retina at the back of your eye that allows you to clearly see fine details. Macular degeneration typically leads to blurriness, dark areas or distortion in central vision which makes everyday activities like threading a needle or reading more challenging; macular degeneration may even result in reduced straight-ahead vision although other parts of the eye continue to function normally so total blindness never results from macular degeneration alone.

Macular degeneration comes in two varieties, dry and wet. Most people experience dry macular degeneration, which slowly steals your central vision over time. Wet macular degeneration, however, is more severe; this form occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow beneath your retina in your macula and leak under it, which leads to rapid and severe loss of central vision that does not impact peripheral vision.

Numerous tests can assist in detecting macular degeneration. These include an Amsler grid and optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan, while your ophthalmologist may suggest an injection of harmless orange-red fluorescein dye, to help identify new blood vessel growth caused by wet macular degeneration. Finally, fundus fluorescein angiography provides noninvasive documentation of any patterns or leakage and takes photographs of your retina for future reference.

Scheduling regular comprehensive eye exams is one of the best ways to detect macular degeneration early. This is particularly important if you have risk factors for it such as family history of eye issues, diabetes or high blood pressure and are over 40.