How to Prevent Macular Degeneration and Other Eye Diseases

Table of Contents

how to prevent macular degeneration eye disease

Age related macular degeneration is the deterioration of central vision due to cell degradation within the macula, leading to gradual loss of straight-ahead vision but not leading to complete blindness, as other areas of the eye remain functional.

Preventing cataracts requires both a healthy diet and annual eye exams with your eye doctor. At these visits, an eye doctor will use a grid to assess your visual field before injecting harmless dye like Fluorescein to take retinal photographs.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Eyes are sensitive organs, and eating healthily can have a dramatic impact on their wellbeing. A diet high in antioxidant vitamins and minerals is known to prevent macular degeneration as well as other eye diseases; to keep your vision at its best you should include foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts rich in these essential nutrients such as A, C, E beta-carotene lutein zeaxanthin and omega 3 fatty acids in your daily diet.

Spinach, kale, carrots, sweet potatoes, salmon and oranges contain powerful antioxidants which may slow macular degeneration progression in its dry form and other eye diseases. According to research findings, diets rich in these nutrients may decrease advanced age-related macular degeneration risk by 25 percent.

Your risk of macular degeneration may also be reduced through quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy weight and wearing sunglasses with UV protection. Furthermore, it’s a good idea to visit your eye doctor regularly even if your vision seems fine as this way they can detect early changes and determine if there’s any chance you may develop macular degeneration or another issue in the eyes.

Macular degeneration refers to the gradual breakdown or deterioration of the macular area in your retina located at the back of your eye, which allows you to see fine detail like letters on signs or people’s faces clearly. When your macula deteriorates, you will have difficulty performing everyday tasks like threading needles and driving; dry and wet forms of this disease exist respectively.

Dry macular degeneration is the most prevalent form of the condition and characterized by tissue thinnining in the macula and yellow deposits underneath the retina called drusen. Although these yellow deposits don’t cause vision loss themselves, they signal increased risk for wet macular degeneration with abnormal blood vessels forming under it, leading to rapid and severe vision loss.

Exercise Regularly

Exercise provides numerous health advantages, from keeping your heart strong to slimming your waistline and increasing energy. Plus, physical activity has also been found to lower risks associated with serious eye diseases; one recent study discovered that people engaging in 30 minutes of physical activity per day are significantly less likely to develop macular degeneration than those who don’t engage in physical activity daily.

Macular degeneration is an eye disease in which the macula, located at the center of retina in the back of your eye, begins to degenerate, leading to blurriness or dark spots in central vision and making tasks like threading a needle or driving more challenging. Macular degeneration typically affects both eyes, though one eye may progress faster. Macular degeneration does not interfere with peripheral vision – or seeing things like street signs or faces – in any way.

Macular degeneration is usually an unnoticeable and painless condition that does not lead to total blindness, but can interfere with reading, driving and recognising faces. Furthermore, this disease could potentially contribute to cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure or depression – so regular visits with your ophthalmologist are recommended in order to monitor its progression and take preventative steps against worsening the condition.

Macular degeneration increases with age and tends to affect women more than men. Furthermore, diets low in omega-3 fatty acids, lutein and vitamin C may play a part in its development.

Importantly, once macular degeneration sets in there is no cure; you can slow its progress by following healthy practices such as eating healthily, not smoking and regularly exercising. Furthermore, regular visits to your physician and following his or her instructions for managing other health conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure is crucial; and wearing sunglasses provides protection from UV rays from sunlight.

Avoid Smoking

Smoking has long been associated with adverse health impacts on lungs, hearts, and other organs; however, many may not realize its harmful impact on eyesight as well. Smoking increases both the risk of age-related macular degeneration as well as its progression.

Macular degeneration occurs when the central part of the retina, known as the macula, begins to degenerate over time and causes blurry central vision that makes it hard to see fine details or straight ahead. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in America due to light-sensing cells failing and eventually leading to permanent vision loss as time progresses.

Attributors that can increase your risk for macular degeneration beyond smoking include family history, race and age; lifestyle should also play a significant role; to reduce progression of macular degeneration it is wise to refrain from smoking, exercise regularly and maintain a nutritious diet as well as having regular eye examinations.

Dry AMD is the most common form of macular degeneration and is characterized by blurry central vision and yellow deposits known as drusen that build under the retina. Their size can give an indication of when or how advanced macular degeneration has developed: medium sized drusen indicate early or intermediate dry macular degeneration while larger ones indicate advanced stages.

Dry macular degeneration may progress to wet macular degeneration, an even more serious form of the condition characterized by blood vessels leaking fluid and leading to retinal scarring (neovascular AMD). Wet macular degeneration may result in distortions to central vision as well as loss of independence by making daily tasks like driving and reading difficult or impossible to perform.

Smokers have an increased risk of wet AMD, with their risk increasing with each pack-year of smoking. Furthermore, smokers are at increased risk for geographic atrophy – an additional form of wet macular degeneration characterized by abnormal blood vessel growth beneath the retina – than nonsmokers; this condition requires treatment options like drug injections to control growth or laser treatments to destroy existing abnormal vessels beneath retinal layers. There are solutions available to treat wet AMD though; drug injections to slow growth as well as laser treatments available that can destroy abnormal blood vessel growth as well.

Have Regular Eye Exams

An annual comprehensive eye exam is the key to maintaining healthy vision and should not only ensure your prescription stays current but can also detect early signs of eye disease like macular degeneration, glaucoma or cataracts that often progress without warning. By regularly having your eyes checked by an eye care practitioner you can reduce the chances of macular degeneration, glaucoma or cataracts developing without symptoms being noticed at all.

Macular degeneration is an eye condition that primarily impacts central vision, leading to blurriness or distortion. Its cause lies within a breakdown in the macula – an area at the back of your retina that helps you detect fine details such as faces or clock numbers – making reading, driving and daily tasks such as threading needles difficult or impossible. Macular degeneration typically worsens over time.

An eye exam typically includes several tests to assess your vision, such as the Snellen chart and Amsler grid. Your eye doctor may also perform other exams on your pupils, iris and lens to identify any irregularities; and/or conduct photofluorescein angiography or slit lamp tests or photofluorescein angiography to examine both vision and retinal blood vessel health; during these procedures they inject harmless orange-red dye into your arm that travels directly into retinal blood vessels where any irregularities or blood clots may appear; this allows them to see any abnormalities within retinal blood vessel walls as they detect inflammation or blood clots which allows them to assess vision or assess health;

Eye exams become even more essential with age, since many eye diseases often progress slowly without showing obvious early symptoms. Macular degeneration is one such disease which may only be detected through regular eye exams – specifically macular degeneration can only be detected during one by inspecting your retina for signs of damage or disease, such as deposits under the retina known as “drusen” (dry AMD) or abnormal blood vessels beneath one retina (“wet AMD”). Scheduling regular exams ensures any symptoms of macular degeneration are detected promptly so they can be treated swiftly.

About the Author:
Picture of Alexander Suprun

Alexander Suprun

Alex started his first web marketing campaign in 1997 and continues harvesting this fruitful field today. He helped many startups and well-established companies to grow to the next level by applying innovative inbound marketing strategies. For the past 26 years, Alex has served over a hundred clients worldwide in all aspects of digital marketing and communications. Additionally, Alex is an expert researcher in healthcare, vision, macular degeneration, natural therapy, and microcurrent devices. His passion lies in developing medical devices to combat various ailments, showcasing his commitment to innovation in healthcare.

Macular
Degeneration?

Stop It Now...

Related Posts
shop cartShop Best Low-Vision Aids with FREE Doctor Consultation.Yes! Let's Go