Tips to protect against age-related macular degeneration

The condition most likely — on current figures — to rob you of your sight in older age is AMD — age-related macular degeneration. The good news is there is much you can do in earlier life to protect yourself against it.

• Scientists now rate AMD — like heart disease and diabetes — a "disease of civilization."
• What they all have in common are underlying, modern-day risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.
• There are certain things you can do nothing about, such as your age, race and gender as, for instance, white females over the age of 55 are statistically most likely to develop AMD.
• But look at the other risk factors below to discover how you might lessen your risk and preserve your eyes.

• AMD starts earlier and progresses faster in smokers.
• Two major British studies have concluded that about a quarter of cases of severe central vision loss from AMD are linked with smoking.
• The good news is that if you stop, your risk gradually returns to normal.

• On average, we take in about one-third of our food energy as fat.
• We should be aiming for a healthier level of 20 to 25 per cent.
• A high-fat diet doesn't just raise your risk of getting AMD, it also increases its severity. In one study at Harvard University involving people over 60 with established AMD, those eating high-fat diets were three times more likely to progress to an advanced form, than those with a low fat intake.
• And, cutting down on "bad" fats will also help you to avoid another AMD risk factor — obesity.

• For the best eye protection, get your antioxidants from foods rather than supplements, say researchers at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Holland.
• But supplements may be helpful in some cases.  So many B vitamins are lost during modern food processing that some scientists suggest that people who eat a lot of processed and junk foods should take supplements.
• Researchers at Tufts University in Boston found high numbers of people who were deficient in vitamin B6 — even those who ate foods high in the vitamin.
• Meanwhile, older people are often deficient in vitamin B12 because their bodies are less able to absorb the vitamin from food.
• The Tufts University study also found that women who had higher intakes of two B vitamins — riboflavin and thiamine — had slower cataract progression than women with lower intakes.

• Grape seeds are a rich source of antioxidants — beta-carotene, vitamin E and flavonoids. These help to combat free-radical damage in the eye, strengthen the tiny blood vessels (capillaries) of the retina, boost night vision and may protect against cataracts.
• Some research has suggested that grape seed extract can slow down macular degeneration and perhaps reduce eye strain in people doing a lot of close work.
• Another free radical-busting flavonoid, rutin comes from buckwheat and may help to protect against eye problems such as cataracts and macular degeneration.
• Made from the leaves of a Chinese tree fern, ginkgo has long been used in Asian herbal medicine. It has been reported to improve long-distance visual acuity (detailed vision) in people with AMD.
• A small study from the University of Brescia in Italy found that 40 ml of ginkgo three times daily for four weeks improved the field of vision in some patients with glaucoma.