Folks with advanced macular degeneration loose their central vision and retain the peripheral vision.  When they look at your face at close range, the eyes and nose areas are absent but the ears may be seen.  This occurs because the center of the retina is the macular and with its degeneration the central vision is lost.  It is important to note that the retina surrounding the macular is usually healthy thus the preservation of peripheral vision.

VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies has developed a telescopic lens which is implanted in the eye and which casts an image on the retina which is almost three times normal size.  An image of this size is large enough to be projected onto healthy retina and avoid the degenerated central macular.  Studies have shown that there is a substantial improvement in visual acuity and this improvement has been unchanging over several years.  Patients who have already received the lens have reported significant improvement watching TV, recognizing faces and facial expressions as well as reading large print books.

The best news is that the lens manufacturers have obtained FDA approval.  They are awaiting Medicare approval which is only a formality.  At present, candidates for the procedure must have severe vision loss in both eyes and be at least 75 years old.  The eye can not have had prior cataract surgery and must be healthy except for the macular degeneration.

Having worked with many patients facing the problems surrounding macular degeneration, I was very pleased to note this major advancement in technology.  I will be happy to discuss the possible candidacy for this lens with any interested patient or family member.

The macular is the very center of the retina and when there is damage to this area there is loss of central vision and a preservation of peripheral vision.  The important point here is that the retina surrounding the macular is healthy and functional.  If a person with macular degeneration looks at your face while standing in front of you, they will not see your eyes or nose but will see your ears because the image of your ears falls on healthy retina.  Needless to say, this is debilitating and frustrating. 

Along came VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, a research and development company that has developed and tested a lense that is implanted in the eye at the time of cataract surgery which magnifies the light image entering the eye by almost three times and projects an image on to the retina  outside the macular region and on to normal retina.  This lens has been studied for the last two years and it has been found that 60% of the patients had substantially improved vision with significant increases in quality of life.  They had less difficulty watching TV, recognizing family and friends, seeing facial expressions and reading large print books. 

The good news is that that this lens technology has obtained FDA approval and is now awaiting approval by Medicare.  At present this lens is approved for patients with cataracts and severe vision loss in both eyes from dry macular degeneration.  The lens is implanted in only one eye.

Here in Miami, I have been helping patients with both wet and dry forms of macular degeneration for quite some time.  To this point, there has been little to offer those with the dry type of the condition other than nutritional supplementation.  This lens represents the first significant help to come along.

If you are interested in discussing this technology and how it might be of help to you, call me at Miami Eye Center and I will be happy to bring you the full details of this exciting breakthrough.

There was a time in this country when the vegetables produced on farms had nutritional value and indeed they still do on small farms.  However, most of the vegetables we now eat are produced by farming conglomerates bent on extracting the most profit that they can from every acre of land.  The land is replanted without much rest and the crop is picked long before it ripens.  As a result, there  is little nutritional value in the fruits and vegetables we eat.  I think if we were to follow the minimum daily requirement as posted by government, we would be eating all day just to keep up.

For many years the American Medical Association was not in favor of nutritional supplementation but in 2002 they came around and in essence are agreeing with the notion that the nutritional value of food has declined and supplements may play a role in preventing cancer, heart disease, depression, and macular degeneration. 

Omega-3 fatty acids are emerging as an important supplement in the prevention of numerous eye related conditions.  Studies have shown that there is almost a 70% reduction in dry eye syndrome in women who consume five to six servings of tuna per week.  Tuna contains large quantities of omega-3.  Also, if you take in large amounts of omega-3, it tends to nutrilize the inflammatory effect of omega-6.  I would (although not studied) add flaxseed as a source of the omega-3. 

Cataract formation may be altered by the intake of lutein and zeaxanthin as demonstrated in the Carotenoids in Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS).  As light passes through the lens of the eye for a lifetime, it stands to reason that the protein in the lens would be damaged (thus forming cataracts) by free radicals.  Carotenoids are strong antioxidants which nutrilize the free radicals.

Age related macular degeneration (ARMD) is a vision limiting condition which aflicts seniors.  The incidence will probably rise to near epidemic proportions as the population ages.  The AREDS demonstrated that folks taking lutein and zeaxanthin have a 35% to 55% reduction in the risk of both atrophic and neovascular ARMD.  The same study identified that omega-3 fatty acids will decrease the risk of the progression of ARMD.

There are numerous supplements on the market and you should consult your physician prior to taking any of them.  The AREDS study employed Ocuvite marketed by Bausch and Lomb so that is the standard.  It comes with and without zinc.  It does not contain omega-3 fatty acids, in which case that would be taken along with Ocuvite. 

There is little down-side risk to taking nutritional supplements.  If you get started taking them early in life you may reap the rewards later.  We all want to live well as long as we can and supplements may be one of the answers.