Macular Degeneration: There's Hope

The bad news: Some 2 million mostly older Americans are struggling with decreased vision caused by macular degeneration, a vision disorder that will slowly destroy much of their eyesight.

The good news: While this condition now ranks as the major cause of partial vision loss, it rarely produces total blindness. And people can take action to slow down the inevitable deterioration of eyesight.

"It's no fun to wake up one morning and discover that you're going to have a growing fuzzy spot blanking out the center of your field of vision for the rest of your life," says Larry Spitzberg, O.D., Ph.D., a VSP doctor out of Houston.

"On the other hand, a recent study sponsored by the National Eye Institute shows that [macular degeneration] patients can slow down the rate of deterioration as much as 25 percent by including in their daily diet plenty of antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, vitamin A from beta-carotene and lutein."

People also can get help by using low-vision devices such as stronger bifocals or by undergoing laser surgery that can slow deterioration.

Macular degeneration occurs when light-sensitive tissues in a key area of the eye, the macula, fail to regenerate properly. As cells die, the patient experiences a smudge at the center of the visual field that gradually spreads.

"Fortunately, this condition usually spares most of the peripheral vision, which allows patients to go right on functioning, even if they find it increasingly difficult to read a newspaper or drive a car," says Dr. Spitzberg. "The danger here isn't really that the patient will go blind, but that he or she will become so disoriented and discouraged by deteriorating vision that inactivity will be the result.

"If you're getting up in years and you suspect that you might be developing this disorder, see your eyecare provider for a checkup immediately," he says. "If your doctor confirms the diagnosis, ask for help in finding the right low-vision aids and the right nutritional supplements for your particular condition so that you can go right on enjoying a vigorous, active lifestyle."

Taken from "Eye on Health" from the VSP WellVision Learning Source® #00594