Macular Degeneration Treatment Tips

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.

I want you to know how easy it can be to quit. Don’t let the fear of smoking withdrawals put you off. Smoking withdrawal symptoms are not the monster you might have been led to expect!  I’m saying this and I was a die-hard smoking addict. So take heart, and read on …

After thirty-odd years of sucking on a ciggie I haven’t smoked for a couple of years now and I am very pleased about it. In every way this choice has had a positive effect on my life (and the lives of my nearest and dearest).

My sister, brother and I all started our nicotine habits in childhood. Our mother smoked two packets a day, and by the time we were adults we were not far behind.

I did try and stop, or smoke less, when I realized how my health was suffering. In fact, when I admitted the truth, I was only getting through the day by literally overdosing on asthma inhalers. I was asthmatic and the cigarettes were causing chronic inflammation.

I’d stay off the cigarettes while on camping holiday with my non-smoking partner. But every time I returned to my social circles, work mates and family who smoked, I’d start again.

It wasn’t until my sister, brother and I all received a big wake-up call that we changed the habit.

Our mother was very unwell with emphysema. She went into hospital for unrelated surgery, and tragically died just after the operation. She wasn’t even old. She hadn’t told the doctors she smoked heavily. The post-mortem revealed she also had lung cancer.

We made a pact to stop smoking - for our mother’s sake as well as for ourselves. Then my sister was diagnosed with emphysema herself, and contracted a chest infection so bad she was sure she was going to die. By now our younger brother was experiencing body numbness from poor circulation. So we really had to quit, to choose life and health.

Now we have all stopped smoking - and we were all surprised at how easy it was to do.

Stopping smoking is much easier than you think.

Before I gave up smoking for good I’d made a couple of serious attempts to stop, as I said, but my success didn’t last. A lot of people have the same experience so don’t worry if your first attempts don’t go well. You will get there. For me what made the difference was truly agreeing I needed to quit, I wanted to quit and I could do it. That brought me back to choice.

Here are a few useful ideas to keep in mind:

1. Stay away from shops and other smokers for the first few days. 

This does help. Sure, those first few days were a bit challenging. I had slight headaches and felt a bit lost. My brother found it difficult - but he knew he just had to last it out. He spent the first days on his own, and I encouraged him via some phone coaching! Still, it was all very mild compared with the shocking health declines we’d started to experience. And next thing we knew, smoking wasn’t even something we thought about.

So, you may feel sharp urges to reach for a cigarette, but you’ll be surprised how quickly they subside. Three days or so and you will be over this stage. Smoking withdrawal symptoms don’t go on and on.
 
2. Give yourself a break in routine.

3. Choose something you can do immediately - a replacement activity - instead of heeding an urge to smoke. It could be to drink a glass of water or juice, do one yoga stretch, leap up and dance for a minute, sing, read something to make you laugh, anything.

4. Instead of saying "I am giving up cigarettes", say something positive like "I am choosing health".

One of the things I really used to enjoy about smoking was the little breaks of relaxation, like sitting down for ten minutes with a cup of tea and a cigarette. So when I was quitting I still allowed myself those brief breaks. I’d sit down and say something like "this is my breathing space break", and I’d try to stay aware of each healthy smoke-free breath.

For me aging and increasing ill health were great motivators. I really do wish I’d stopped smoking years ago. So if you do smoke and you’re anywhere near wanting to quit I sincerely and heartily encourage you. Be firm but also be kind and gentle to yourself. Treat yourself as if you were your own dearest friend or beloved child.

The first is chronic inflammation. Smoking causes chronic inflammation because of the constant presence of pathogens and foreign particles inhaled in cigarette smoke.

Chronic inflammation is associated with many diseases, including cardiovascular problems. Inflammation is usually associated with the healing response of the immune system, but chronic inflammation also has destructive processes. There’s a comprehensive explanation of inflammation at http://www.virtualrespiratorycentre.com/symptoms.asp?sid=60, which makes it easy to understand.
 
As well as inflammation there is some evidence that certain chemicals in cigarettes can directly disrupt blood flow to the retina.

These chemicals also have an adverse effect on the antioxidants in our blood. Antioxidants are vital to eye health, and you can read about them in the Antioxidant Nutrition posts in the "Eye Health Nutrients" category of this site.

Smoking damage affects every part of your circulatory system. Nicotine constricts your blood vessels. This places extra stress on your heart and can raise blood pressure. The lining of the blood vessels is harmed by smoking. The damaged surface allows fat deposits to adhere which causes hardening of the arteries as well as other blood flow problems. Several studies show that people with cardiovascular disease have a greater risk of AMD macular.

Not smoking is one of the most important things you can do to protect your macula.

If you do smoke, be cautious taking vitamin supplements with high levels of vitamin A or beta carotene. Results are not conclusive but various tests have revealed an increase in lung cancer in smokers who took concentrated beta carotene and vitamin A.

Smokers are strongly advised to eat a diet rich in deep yellow, orange and dark green vegetables. These vegetables contain beta carotene which is converted to Vitamin A in the body. Beta carotene-rich food poses no risk to smokers, and helps to protect you from AMD macular. You can and should eat as much of these healthy foods as you like.

Other vitamins, such as vitamin C, become depleted in smokers. You need a fresh, healthy diet, water and juices and plenty of vitamins and minerals to help your body recover from smoking damage.

And of course the first and most important action, if you’re a smoker, is to quit.

I smoked for thirty-odd years and happily I’m still alive to tell the tale. You can read my story here.

Results vary slightly between countries, age groups, gender and genetic groupings but there is a consensus view that current smokers have a higher risk of developing macular degeneration eye disease than non smokers.

The risk factor ranges from two to four times more likely to develop the disease if you smoke.

When you stop smoking your risk decreases in the first few years by 5-10%. The risk keeps dropping by approximately 5% for every five years after quitting.