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How To Take A Bite Out Of Macular Degeneration

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Macular degeneration is a chronic eye disease most often associated with aging.

The macula is the tissue just inside the back of your eyeball. And if you have macular degeneration, it begins to slowly deteriorate thereby affecting your central vision.

While this disease doesn’t result in a complete loss of vision, your lifestyle may go through drastic changes. Such changes might include the inability to drive a car because you have a blind spot in your vision which prevents you from seeing “the whole picture.”

Although aging is the main cause of macular degeneration, people who smoke, drink too much alcohol, are obese or have a family history of the disease are at higher risk for developing macular degeneration.

Other risk factors include gender (women appear to be at greater risk than men) and high blood pressure. [Read more…] about How To Take A Bite Out Of Macular Degeneration

Age Related Macular Degeneration

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A new study was just published by the Archives of Ophthalmology which showed that smoking contributes to the risk of developing Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD).

ARMD is particularly disturbing because it is progressive, there is no known cure and no way to reverse the loss of vision. It tends to run in families – for example, it affects my mother as well as all of her siblings. It is also more common in women.
What can you do?

  • See your eye doctor (either ophthalmologists or optometrists) for a checkup.
  • There are various vitamin/antioxidant preparations available which appear to slow the development and progression. It should contain vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, zinc oxide, and copper.
  • There is evidence that supplements containing lutein and zeaxanthin (in addition to the above) can also be helpful.
  • Stop Smoking!

For further resources on ARMD:

Having trouble reading the fine print?

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I don’t know about you, I swear that the print on the screen is getting smaller!

Of course, for a few years now (and especially since having Lasik done), I’ve been using reading glasses, but sometimes I just want to take a quick peak at the screen without having to find where I left yet another pair of glasses. (Do you keep them all over the house and in the car like I do?)

So this morning, I hit something on my keyboard and the print on the screen got larger. I had no idea what I did, so as usual, I googled the problem.

I don’t know about on Macs, but on a PC all you need to do (which was not what I did to begin with, but it still works) is hit:

  • Control and the plus or minus sign to make the print (actually the entire page including graphics) larger or smaller.

Very cool!

Barbara C. Phillips, NP
OlderWiserWomen™

Age Related Macular Degeneration and Smoking

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) May 30 –

Older adults who smoke are twice as likely to have age related macular degeneration (AMD) than their non-smoking peers, according to findings from the largest study to look at this association in a British population.

Smoking is known to be a risk factor for AMD, lead author Dr. Jennifer R. Evans and colleagues, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, note. However, the strength of the association among adults 75 years of age and older in the UK was unclear.

To investigate, the researchers analyzed data from 516 case patients and 4364 controls drawn from 49 general practices across Britain.

Current smoking status raised the risk of AMD by 2.15-fold compared with non-smoking, according to the report in the May issue of the British Journal of Ophthalmology. Virtually no excess risk was seen in ex-smokers, especially those who had stopped more than 20 years previously.

Based on these findings, the authors estimate that 28,000 cases of AMD among older adults in the UK may be attributable to smoking.

“An increased risk of AMD, which is the most commonly occurring cause of blindness in the UK, is yet another reason for people to stop smoking and governments to develop public health campaigns against this hazard,” the researchers emphasize.

Br J Ophthalmol 2005;89:550-553.

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For more information click Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD).

Barbara C. Phillips, NP
OlderWiserWomen, LLC