I'm 41 and have been diagnosed with Dry Macular Degeneration and have a tear on my Bruch's membrane - help!

Inherited this disease from my father
I'm extremely near sighted (myopia)-15 and -14
Don't smoke, I exercise, normal weight, healthy diet
Participate in TKD - have been told that I can no longer spar
Have 3 children - two adopted
Would like to slow or reverse down the Dry Macular Degeneration
Have gone to Rentinal specialist at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle WA

Hi. I am so sorry to hear about your diagnoses.

First, lets talk about the macula. This is the center of the vision. When you look at your watch to tell time or read a book or look at details, you are using your macula. It is a very small part of the retina, but very important for seeing details.

There are two types of macular degeneration, dry and wet. The wet type usually comes on suddenly and there are a few treatments out there to slow vision loss. The dry type is a progressive type and right now we have no treatment for it. You have to be watched to make sure you do not have a sudden change in the vision so that you do not develop the wet type. You can use mini blinds or anything with straight edges to monitor your vision. Check each eye every day and make sure that you are not noticing straight lines starting to curve or become distorted.

Next, over the years there has been a ton of research on this condition because it is soooo common and sooooo frustrating. The newest research says that taking a vitamin with Lutein and Zeaxanthin. You can buy these over the counter at the pharmacy. If you take a vitamin anyway you might as well take one with these ingredients in them. Studies are showing that this MAY slow the progression of the disease.

Now, one other thing, you do not go totally blind with macular degeneration. People with advanced disease can still see to get around. I am by no means downplaying the debilitation that this disease causes but the most common fear is blindness and this disease does not leave you completely without sight.

You are also VERY nearsighted and this is of concern because of the length of the eye and the tendency to have retinal detachments or lattice degeneration, which is where the retina "stretches" and can cause a tear leading to detachment. This is probably why they told you to stop with the TKD with the fear that you may get hit in the eye and with your eye being vulnarable already it could be bad.

Good luck to you, I hope this information can help you somehow.