Macular Degeneration Treatment Tips

A News Center press release on 2/9/09 reported on the studies.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory followed the progress of 29,000 male runners and 12,000 female runners for more than seven years. The studies found that running reduced the risk of both cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

“In addition to obtaining regular eye exams, people can take a more active role in preserving their vision,” said Paul Williams, an epidemiologist in Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division who conducted the research. “The studies suggest that people can perhaps lessen their risk for these diseases by taking part in a fitness regimen that includes vigorous exercise.”

That’s good news for runners, but what about the rest of us?

Williams also said, “We know there are important health benefits to walking, including lowering heart disease risk.” He continued, “It is quite likely that the studies’ results might apply to a lesser extent to smaller doses of more moderate exercise.”

It’s common sense to think that exercise, including walking, may help prevent vision loss along with enhancing our general health. Just as eating fresh fruit and vegetables and taking good nutritional supplements protect our macular health.

One of the clearest findings was that eating fish twice or more a week reduced the risk of AMD by up to 40%.

Omega-3s are found in oily, cold-water fish like:

trout
tuna
salmon
sardines
cod
mackerel
halibut

and also in scallops.

Eat fish as fresh as possible. Avoid frying your fish in ‘bad’ fats. Poaching or steaming are a lot healthier and will not ruin the effects of the ‘good’ fats in your fish.  If you want the benefit of fish oil but can’t source fresh fish, you can substitute frozen or tinned fish or take fish oil capsules.

One problem I have with eating enough fish is the cost of it. Even though I live on the east coast of Australia in a seaside village, buying fish verges on being a luxury.

Even if it is cheap and readily available in your area the truth is that the world’s oceans are over-fished and depleted.

Luckily there are other good sources of Omega-3. The two top non-fish Omega-3 foods are:

flax seeds
walnuts

More good omega-3 foods include:

kiwifruit
pecan nuts
hazel nuts
soy beans
kidney beans
navy beans
tofu
extra virgin olive oil (frying will damage the omega-3’s)
cauliflower
cabbage
brussel sprouts
mustard seeds
stawberries
broccoli
eggs (chickens fed greens and insects produce the best omega-3-rich eggs, also fish oil can be added to your chickens’ diet)
grass-fed beef and lamb
milk and cheese from grass-fed cows
kelp
acai

Omega-3s are nutritionally essential. This is why they are sometimes referred to as the ‘essential fatty acids.’

The use of your own stem cells for retinal regeneration has been suggested before, but at E10,545 or equivalent for both eyes it is very expensive. The price and elite availability of such procedures puts it out of reach for most of us.

Now an article published in The Guardian on January 30, 2009 suggests stem cell therapy for macular degeneration may become affordable.

The article continues: "But it is likely that the first embryonic stem cell therapy to become widely available will come from Britain … enabling those who were going blind to see. The work being done by Coffey, who is based at the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, has the beauty of simplicity. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is caused by the deterioration of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells at the back of the eye. These cells form a layer that processes light, and do not need to be linked in to the nervous system and the brain. "We’re not having to reconnect cells to a neural network," says Coffey. "This is a carpet of cells." He and his team have done it very successfully in animals, he says. They have persuaded embryonic stem cells to turn into RPE cells and in effect laid a new carpet.

"We’re now manufacturing the cells to clinical standard so we can go into trials in 2010/11," he says, adding with enthusiasm that it is do-able because they need relatively few. "We only need 40,000 cells. It sounds an awful lot but if you think of a computer mouse," he says, looking around the room for something the right size, "if you grew the cells in it you could provide easily enough for 100,000 patients. The scale-up is relatively simple."

Coffey thinks this therapy has a good chance of success. A quarter of pensioners will hope he is right. That’s how many over-65s get AMD. And while there is a new (very expensive) drug called Lucentis for one form of the disease, it is not a cure. AMD is, as he says, "a huge problem".

But funding has not been easy. Coffey was kept afloat by the UK’s Macular Disease Society, which gave him £50,000 at a tricky point. Otherwise the money has come from philanthropic donors in the US, of whom Bush’s ban made sure there was no shortage.

Interestingly, if it proves to be a cure for macular degeneration, this therapy is likely to be affordable. Not only that, it will save the NHS a lot of money. The costs of surgery, Coffey reckons, will be about £4,000-£5,000, but the patch of cells itself could cost as little as £250. Lucentis costs £800 to £1,500 for each injection every four to six weeks. "But this is a cure - not like Lucentis," says Coffey. That’s the argument that has at last caused the big pharma companies to sit up and take notice. For years they steered clear of biotechnology. Living tissue was of far less interest to them than chemical compounds that patients would take for years. But a new reality is dawning. Stem cell therapies could drive their drugs off the market.

Other new treatment technologies currently under research include a computer chip implant in the retina, and gene technology.

Risk Factors Beyond Your Control:

    1.    Age 
           Macular Degeneration is the most common cause of vision loss  over 50. People with AMD are usually in their 60s and 70s. 1 in 3 over 80 have it.
    2.    Race
           AMD mainly affects people with fair skin and light eyes. Caucasians are at high risk. Africans and people with dark skin and dark eyes are not at risk for this disease, while Hispanics have a medium to low risk.
    3.    Gender
           Being female puts you in a higher risk group. Over 75, there are twice as many women as men with AMD.
    4.    Heredity & Genetics
           Genetic factors play a part in your chances of developing macular degeneration, and new gene research is exploring these. Any family history of macular degeneration may increase the tendency toward AMD by 50%.

Risk Factors You can Control or Influence:

    1.    Smoking
           Smoking increases the risk of macular degeneration by 2 to 4 times. Some studies put it as high as 6 or 7 times.
    2.    Diet
           A diet high in fats and trans-fats doubles your risk. A healthy diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables and other foods for your eyes can lower your chances of AMD.
    3.    Vitamin Intake
           Cell damage by ‘free radicals’ is an underlying cause of macular degeneration, so you need vital antioxidants to protect your eyes and health. Low levels of nutrients (antioxidants - especially lutein and zeaxanthin - vitamins, minerals) increase your susceptibility to this disease. Even with a good diet we often need supplements for an extra boost. In today’s world, with current food production methods and environmental pollution, it is recommended everyone consider some form of supplementation - unless you live in a pristine place and grow organic food.
    4.    Body Weight/Obesity
           Increased body mass index, and particularly obesity in the belly area, increase the risk of AMD and the risk of contracting its more severe forms. Attention to diet is important, again, and also to exercise. Some studies have shown regular exercise, for instance running, has decreased incidence of AMD.
    5.    Hypertension
           High blood pressure affects all blood vessels, including of course those in the eyes. Hypertension is a risk factor which increases the chance or cause of macular degeneration by around x 2.
           Cardiovascular disease (like AMD, its risk increases with lipid levels and inflammation) and diabetes, as well as hypertension, affect blood circulation to the eyes and may contribute to degeneration.
    6.    Sun Exposure
           Excess or prolonged exposure to sun and bright light, without protecting your eyes, is one of the risk factors for macular degeneration.
    7.    Alcohol
           This has a lesser effect, but very high consumption of alcohol over time reduces antioxidants in the body, and can therefore contribute to the cause of macular degeneration.

Risk factors don’t make it inevitable that you will develop macular degeneration. On the other hand, it is possible to have no risk factors (beyond age) and still get it. The more factors that apply to you, the higher your level of risk.