Does anyone have macular degeneration?

I'm 29 and have macular degeneration. Any suggestion on what to take to slow the process down or stop it?

My mother does and was progressively getting worse. She started taking bilberry (a supplement that helps the eyes). She is still bothered by the condition, but it quit getting worse. Discuss anything you want to try w/your eye care specialist. Take care and good luck

Macular degeneration is an eye condition that destroys the macula of the eye that is the part of your vision that gives you what they call "central vision". It is responsible for allowing us to see to read, drive and anything that isn't peripheral, meaning the vision that is "side vision". Generally it is a condition that attacks older individuals, mostly sixty something or above. There is a vitamin called ocuvite and others like it that is specifically made for occular health, but there is nothing in todays modern science that is a cure for this condition. Hopefully it won't destroy the macular area of your retina completely. Some people have this condition and it won't change for years, where as others have an unfortunate speedy demise of vision that leaves them legally blind, with only their peripheral vision intact. Have you actually been diagnosed with this condition, or has someone told you they thought you had it? If you have not been diagnosed, you could have something else going on. I would see an ophthalmologist and get your eyes examined.

East really really well. Take Vitamins and Leutin. Make sure you protect yourself from UV and Blue light. Get some REvo H2O Polarized Sunglasses and eat a lot of Leafy greens!

If you are 29 with macular degeneration. This is called Juvenile Macular Degeneration. Hereditary.

If you want to take the time, I'll try and explain the issues...

Did you ever take a magnifying glass and focus the sun and burn a piece of paper or start a camp fire, or see McGyver start a fuse?

So one can take a few square inches of light from the sun, focus it at a point and it has enough energy to cause a fire.
You have a lens system in the front of your eye...the cornea and the lens...focusing light on the center of the retina, the macula. And we're suprised that after 30 years we've cooked the thing!

Why didn't you cook it at 15 years? You did. You tried to, but the vascular flow behind the retina is so high at young ages, that light energy is absorbed and the heat taken away, and the toxic molecules or atoms that are formed by that energy is neutralized so quickly that no damage occurs.

But as we get old, the vascular supply gets rusty. So we have less flow...not much less, but less. So light becomes toxic. It forms superoxides, superperoxides, radicals, ions...charged stuff that causes damage to the cellular machinery that takes care of the photopigments. When that occurs, cells get damaged, they don't work. They get filled with debris they normally get rid of farily easily. We see these constipated cells as Drusen.

So ANYTHING that contributes to vascular disease, makes Macular Degeneration worse faster. Smoking...causes vascular disease. Poor diet...same....lack of exercise...and on and on. We all know becuase our mothers told us so way back when.

In people with juvenile macular problems, one can try to take antioxidants. Catotenoids include lutein, zeaxanthink, lycopene and their metabolites. The chemistry never stops. OTC things like OCUVITE or ICAPS are ok, but so are MANY of the other eye vitamins. Actually a one a day Centrum Silver or Costo Centrum Silver like vitamine has all the stuff and costs a lot less.

So anything you can do that makes YOU healthier...diet, exercise, sleep, sunglasses, sunscreen, green stuff (like green beans), vegetables and fruits...all help. They make it so that when the light hits the macula, it's not AS TOXIC, so it does less damage.

Wear a hat too. That helps drop light down to almost 50% or less of normal (without at hat).

No there's no sunscreen for the eyes...and when you get the other stuff in...burns..a LOT.

Macular degeneration never BLINDS people. It makes it very hard to see. But one can still get up and walk out of the room. Things like reading, TV, become hard. But this day and age, with the new biochemistry manipulation of genes, it may not be that long before you get an injection..and your genes get tweaked, and your Juvenile Macular Degeneration just goes away.

Hi,
I always take an interest in how to care for my eyes, having had a macular crease a couple of years ago.
There was a health programme on TV this week which looked at macular degeneration and nutrition. They tested a theory by asking a woman to eat a small amount of spinach every day. After a few weeks there was a noticable improvement in her vision. It's due to lutein, which can also be found in egg yolks and kiwi fruits. There's quite a lot on the Net. They recommended eating the spinach a couple of times a week and including the other foods too, if you can.

By the way, the hospital told me that they are advancing on macular problems all the time. I know it's easy to say, but there's a good chance they will have the solution very soon.

Best wishes, Liz

Question--Do you have the "wet" or "dry" type of AMD (Age Related Macular Degeneration)?? Go to your internet search engine and type in "Age Related Macular Degeneration" this should get you a link to the AMD Association where you can get the information you want and need..Your Eye Doctor, who diagnosed you with it should also be able to give you some information. The "wet" type is the worst type and that seems to be the one that has the most information available. The "dry" type doesn't seem to have so much information available....at least not that I've found, and believe me I've looked. I have Dry AMD.
Another site you might visit is www.webmd.com. You might be able to get some information from this site as well.