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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness in people 50 and older. If you’re at risk for AMD due to age or family history, you may be wondering if there’s anything you can do to prevent it.
Here’s what you need to know about protecting your eyesight and potentially preventing AMD.
Unfortunately, AMD cannot be completely prevented, nor can it be cured or reversed. That said, you can significantly lower your risk of developing it by making healthy lifestyle changes. It’s also possible to slow its progression if you already have the condition.
Most preventive efforts focus on eating nutritious foods, quitting smoking, and exercising. Some healthcare providers also recommend taking a combination of vitamins and minerals if you already have the condition.
By making key changes to your lifestyle, you can potentially lower your risk of developing AMD — and possibly even slow your vision loss if you already have the condition. Here are some steps you should consider taking regardless of your risk level for AMD.
As you age, your risk of developing AMD increases. But if you smoke cigarettes, your risk is up to four times higher than that of people who don’t smoke. You could even develop AMD earlier in life than someone who doesn’t smoke cigarettes.
However, if you stop smoking cigarettes early in life, you could lower your previous risk. After 20 years of no longer smoking, one study found that your risk for AMD could be about the same as someone who doesn’t smoke.
Having a higher body mass index (BMI), being overweight, or having a higher waist circumference have all been linked to an increased risk of developing late-stage AMD. While losing weight is not the only answer to preventing AMD from getting worse, it may help.
For instance, losing weight can help lower blood pressure, an important step in reducing your risk for AMD. When you have high blood pressure, this can restrict blood flow to your eyes and potentially increase your risk for AMD.
Some researchers have found that eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, especially leafy greens, could reduce the risk for AMD. Likewise, eating fatty fish that’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids like salmon, tuna, mackerel, and sardines also helps lower your risk.
Researchers have also found that prioritizing vegetables high in lutein and following a Mediterranean diet could reduce the likelihood that AMD gets worse by as much as 20 to 56 percent.
Foods high in lutein include leafy green vegetables, avocado, peas, egg yolks, kiwi, and red grapes.
Eating these nutritious foods may help promote weight loss, too.
Perhaps one of the best ways to help prevent AMD is to exercise regularly. It may also be a helpful tool in preventing AMD from getting worse or progressing to a more severe form of the disease.
With that in mind, one team of researchers found that people who were physically active were eight percent less likely to have AMD than those who were inactive. They also were 41 percent less likely to have late AMD than those who were inactive.
While there is some conflicting evidence on the role of exercise in preventing AMD or keeping it from getting worse, exercise has numerous other health benefits.
Wearing sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat can protect your eyes from the sun and UV light and is generally recommended for your eye health. But it could be even more important in preventing age-related macular degeneration.
Some people have an increased risk of developing AMD because they have low macular pigment. This pigment contains antioxidants that protect your macula, the part of your eye responsible for your central vision.
What To Know About Eye Exercises and Supplements You may have heard that doing eye exercises or taking certain supplements may help prevent age-related macular degeneration. But it’s important to recognize what the science says about these two interventions. Here’s what researchers know to date.
There is little to no evidence that doing regular eye exercises will help prevent AMD. One recent study looked at using eye exercises known as eccentric viewing training for people who already have AMD.
Researchers found that these exercises didn’t improve participants’ ability to read more efficiently. It also didn’t improve their fixation stability, or their ability to keep their eyes focused on one spot.
The National Eye Institute, which conducted the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) and follow-up study (AREDS2), found that a group of vitamins and minerals known as AREDS and AREDS 2 reduces the risk of progression from intermediate to advanced AMD by 25 percent.
The AREDS supplements also reduced the risk of central vision loss by 19 percent. That said, these nutrients don’t prevent you from getting AMD. So, taking them if you don’t have AMD is unlikely to have an impact on whether you get the condition.
On myAMDteam, people share their experiences with AMD, get advice, and find support from others who understand.
If you’ve been diagnosed with AMD, what steps have you taken to prevent its progression, and how effective have they been? Let others know in the comments below.
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