Patients with the Wet and Dry forms of Macular Degeneration may benefit from Macular Health vitamins. Vitamins decrease the risk of vision loss, which has been shown not only in the AREDS study, but also in other studies.
The Age Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) was a national trial sponsored by the National Eye Institute, one of the federal governments National Institutes of Health. This trial found that high levels of antioxidants and zinc reduced the risk of advanced Age Related Macular Degeneration by about twenty five percent. The same nutrients also reduced the risk of vision loss caused by advanced macular degeneration by about nineteen percent. The majority of the reduction of vision loss and advanced macular degeneration was due to zinc.
The specific daily amounts per tablet were:
The AREDS study was published in 2001 and the article stated that there was a range in the dosages of antioxidants and Zinc as listed above due to loss of potency of the vitamin tablets due to shelf time and the variability of the number of tablets taken per day. The American Academy of Ophthalmology now recommends (based on the AREDS study) that patients with significant Macular Degeneration take nutritional supplements as listed in the AREDS study to reduce the risk of vision loss.
The shocking facts about macular degeneration...
Source: ©American Ophthalmological Society 2005 THE BURDEN OF AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION: A VALUE-BASED MEDICINE ANALYSIS
- Dr. John O. Mason, III
Dr. John O. Mason, III, a retina surgeon and macular degeneration specialist, recently released a report showing that Macular Health, a unique vitamin supplement, slows vision loss due to Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and helps reduce the risk of total blindness.
Dr. Mason developed Macular Health for his AMD patients at the famed Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital at the University of Alabama Birmingham. Dr. Mason based the formula for Macular Health on the landmark National Eye Institute (NEI) study which showed that"high-dose antioxidant vitamins and minerals taken by mouth by people at risk of developing advanced AMD, reduced the risk of progression to advanced AMD by 25 percent and the risk of moderate vision loss by 19 percent.
The Macular Health formula differs from other similar products in that additional ingredients such as lutein and zeaxanthin have been included to enhance the effectiveness of the original formula utilized in the NEI study.
Macular Health's unique formula is now available with no prescription necessary. Unlike other similar products, the Macular Health formula only requires only one capsule a day. Those who have trouble swallowing pills can open the capsule and dissolve the ingredients into any liquid and ingest Macular Health in liquid form with no loss of effectiveness.
Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in American adults. The condition, which is a breakdown of the macula of the eye, typically occurs during the aging process. Damage of the macula, caused by macular degeneration, increases the difficulty of seeing fine details clearly.
Macular degeneration can make activities such as reading and threading a needle impossible. The ability to see both near and far is hindered by macular degeneration because damage to the macula causes blurriness and distortion of vision. There is no cure for macular degeneration, but there is hope of slowing vision loss with proper nutrition.
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), the most common macular problem is age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The two most common types are dry AMD and wet AMD.
The AAO refers to dry AMD as"the aging and thinning of the tissues of the macula." Vision loss in dry AMD patients is gradual; therefore, few symptoms are noticeable before the advanced stage of dry AMD. Dry AMD accounts for 85 to 90 percent of all macular degeneration cases.
Wet AMD, according to the AAO, accounts for 10 - 15 percent of AMD cases. Patients with this condition suffer from abnormal blood vessel formation beneath the retina in the back of the eye. Wet AMD patients experience blurred central vision. Wet AMD experience rapid vision loss due to leaking of fluid or blood from newly formed blood vessels.
Though some risks of AMD are inevitable, making lifestyle changes may help prevent the development or progression of AMD.