December 6, 2017 - Macular Degeneration
“Good morning everyone, it’s Dr. Sam. Thanks for joining me for another morning walk. So my topic today is macular degeneration.
What are eye doctors taught in school?
I’m going to start with this. A few years ago I was invited to give a lecture to a group of optometry students. When we got to the topic of macular degeneration, I asked them: “What happens when you diagnose macular degeneration?”
A few people raised their hand and they said: “Well what we do… what we learned… is that you watch it. You tell the patient, ‘we’re just going to watch it’.”
So I said to them: “Well, would you like something more proactive that you can actually do for the patient so that they can reverse the condition?”
They responded, “No, what we learned in school was just to watch it – just monitor it.”
I thought this was ridiculous. There are so many things you can do to address and heal macular degeneration.
What is macular degeneration?
The macula is the center part of our vision where we see detail and color. It has a yellow pigment called zeaxanthin, which is a carotenoid that is very important for macular health. Surrounding zeaxanthin is lutein, which is another important carotenoid that surrounds the macula area. These two pigments protect us from the blue-white light from computers and all digital devices.
For those folks that have had cataract surgery, it is very important that you wear blue-light blocking lenses because the plastic lens that they put into your eye does not protect your eyes from the blue light.
When you start developing macular degeneration, there are fatty deposits – called drusen – that begin to grow. These drusen are normal aging changes in the retina, but if they begin to grow over the retina, this is the beginning signs of dry macular degeneration. With dry macular degeneration, one of the keys is to create more oxygenation and hydration in the retina to push the metabolic waste away from the macula area and prevent the drusen from progressing.
The second type of macular degeneration is called wet macular degeneration. This is where new blood vessels form in and around the macula. What I’ve discovered is that it can be a pre-diabetic condition, so if you are developing wet macular degeneration, you may want to get checked to make sure you are not developing diabetes because diabetes can be a causative factor to why you’re developing blood vessels in the macula area.
Causative factors of macular degeneration
If you’re developing excess blood vessels in the eye, it can be because:
- You have oxidative stress and free radicals are accumulating
- You’re not getting enough oxygenation and hydration in the retinal area
- You’re having a secondary inflammatory response in the body. This could actually even be in your intestinal system. I have found that focusing on improving gut health and be very beneficial – I do see a correlation in my practice between gut health and eye disease.
Healing macular degeneration?
To summarize, if you are diagnosed with macular degeneration, here are some things to consider:
- Get more nutrients, especially antioxidants, through your diet and supplementation protocol. Make sure these include lutein and zeaxanthin, which are two carotenoids that the AREDS studies have shown to be very beneficial for macular health.
- Protect your eyes from damaging blue-white light with protective glasses.
- Spend 5-10 minutes each day doing eye exercises. These are fantastic for relaxing the eyes and improving circulation.
Remember, you don’t have to live out your doctor’s diagnosis. There are so many things you can do to heal your eyes!”