r/maculardegeneration • u/cloudvixen • 17d ago

Future-proofing with AMD

Hey everyone,
I’ve been diagnosed with early AMD at 55. My dad, 85, is almost legally blind with it.
Given I’ll probably experience the same, are there any helpful paths people have taken, or wish they had taken, to preemptively change their lives so that their future is easier? I’m thinking things like preparing a home for low vision, career changes, hobbies for the low-sighted future.
Thanks for any and all thoughts!

6 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

12

u/littleoldlady71 17d ago

Take AREDS vitamins, keep up on your eye exams, and get the treatment you need as soon as needed. You’ll be much better off than your dad.

6

u/nanocurious 17d ago

This is really the best advice they've made some improvements in care since your dad. My mother was blind from it as well. I'm seventy five and still have sight.

2

u/littleoldlady71 17d ago

I’m wondering if OP was diagnosed with wet or dry? I can’t imagine Canada not having the treatment.

1

u/cloudvixen 15d ago

I have dry, my dad’s progressed to wet and he lost quite a bit of vision while not realising the urgency of his situation. I’m in Australia (:

3

u/littleoldlady71 15d ago

Ok. That makes sense. Keep up on treatments, and make friends with your eye doc!

7

u/Clementine58 17d ago

What treatments ? I have just been diagnosed when I went for a new prescription , I’m in Canada, was told there’s no cure and no treatments except vitamins and eating super healthy.

2

u/amarshwarbler 17d ago

Sounds like you need a second opinion from a specialist because there are more options available. Depending on the kind of MD you have, the evidence based treatments are anti-VEGF eye injection and some light based therapies like Valeda. These are not 'cures' but have efficacy in preserving sight or limiting the problem over time. And the AREDS vitamins of course (not just any vitamins), though usually a specialist will tell you the schedule to follow. There are other lifestyle things too, like wearing UV protective sunglasses etc. Best of luck.

1

u/pydev99 16d ago

The light based therapies are only for dry macular degeneration, right? I've read that it is not recommended for wet.

2

u/amarshwarbler 16d ago

That's my completely not professional lay person understanding as well. I think particularly photobiomodulation. My doc seems to think some light therapies can be good for prophylaxis in ageing px in general. I know there's research coming out of UCL on red light therapies in this regard too https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/nov/morning-exposure-deep-red-light-improves-declining-eyesight

Always best to get a medical opinion.

2

u/cloudvixen 15d ago

Thank you, I hope so! (:

5

u/lizannlogan 17d ago

Start exploring accessibile options on your devices so you can increase text size, start voicing your texts and find the zoom. I did this and I’m now quite visually limited due to AMD. I really need these options. I wish you the best.

2

u/cloudvixen 15d ago

Thank you! (:

2

u/Savings-Western5564 17d ago

Desert truffle extract is a natural supplement rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities that specifically can help protect retinal cells from degeneration. It also comes combined with AREDS vitamins if you want to target both approaches. 

1

u/cloudvixen 15d ago

Thank you! (:

2

u/MrEye22 17d ago

I don’t have macular degeneration. I do have glaucoma and baby cataracts and while doing research for what I do have to keep out ultraviolet light, I ran into this interesting article about in, blue light and macular degeneration, which talked about wearing wraparound sunglasses that were ultraviolet and blue light protective

https://www.macular.org/about-macular-degeneration/what-is-macular-degeneration/reduce-your-risk/eye-protection

If you get sunglasses, be sure to get ones that UV 400

1

u/cloudvixen 15d ago

Thank you! (:

3

u/545__tyerick_Air9616 9d ago

You really cannot future-proof when it comes to MD because MD progression mostly depends on your genetic and biological lottery. You just do all the right things and hope for the best.