Macular Degeneration not hopeless; Researcher documents reversal of disease

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Macular Degeneration not hopeless; Researcher documents reversal of disease

 

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Researcher calls for new battery of vision tests for macular degeneration;

Yellow plant pigments may improve vision

 

Winnetka, Ill- If you are over 60 years of age, you may be slowly losing your

sight and not be aware of it, even if you have recently undergone an eye exam

and your eye doctor said you have 20/20 vision.

 

Calling macular degeneration a slowly progressive " stealth " disease that robs

older Americans of their central vision, oftentimes without the awareness of

its victims or their eye doctors, an eye researcher is calling for a new

battery of vision tests to detect and chart the progress of this eye disorder.

 

Stuart Richer, O.D., Ph.D., staff optometrist at the Department of Veterans

Affairs Medical Center in North Chicago, writing in the January issue of the

Journal of the American Optometric Association, documents the use of a battery

of vision tests that he says can, for the first time, accurately detect the

early stages of macular degeneration when preventive measures may be used to

stop

the progression of the disease.

 

" Even though macular degeneration affects the central retina where color

vision cells (called cones) are located, we need to perform tests that measure

night-vision cell function (called rods) since the disease begins at the rim of

the visual center of the eye (the macula) where there is a high density of rod

cells. Only tests that measure contrast and luminance (brightness) are a

measure of rod-cell function, " says Dr. Richer.

 

Patients with macular degeneration often only undergo a visual acuity test,

which measures the ability to see dark letters on a white background, or a

photographic dye test, which attempts to locate leaky blood vessels at the back

of

the eye. This test is called a fluorescein angiogram, which is only useful

for a small percentage of patients with macular degeneration.

 

Dr. Richer?s battery of tests includes:

 

A contrast sensitivity test:

the patient views squares printed in various shades of gray.

 

A glare recovery test:

the patient stares at a bright-light source for a minute and then attempts to

read letters on an eye chart. The bright light bleaches chemicals out of the

retinal cells.

 

A low luminance eye chart:

letters are printed dark on one side and faded gray on another. The

difference in the number of letters visualized provides evidence of rod-cell

function.

 

A visual function questionnaire:

the patient answers questions about problems performing various activities.

 

An Amsler grid test:

this is a printed grid of squares. Wavy lines or blind spots confirm diseased

areas of the retina.

 

" By performing all these tests we can detect macular degeneration at its

earliest stages. Otherwise, both patient and doctor are often unaware that

macular

degeneration is causing slow progressive loss of sight, " says Dr. Richer.

 

Visual improvement documented

 

" We have also been able to chart visual improvement in many cases when

various nutritional regimens have been suggested, " says Dr. Richer, who

recommends

his patients consume more lutein-rich dark-green leafy vegetables like spinach

and kale and take food supplements that provide lutein, vitamin E, bilberry

and other antioxidants. " Following nutritional intervention, visual improvement

is documented in 60-87 percent of the tests performed, which means that

macular degeneration is not always a hopelessly progressive eye disorder as

patients

are often told, " says Richer.

 

Rose Eye Medical Center in Los Angeles is the first eye center in the country

to announce it is beginning to use Dr. Richer?s battery of vision tests for

macular degeneration. Doctors Marc R. Rose and Michael R. Rose,

ophthalmologists and authors of the book SAVE YOUR SIGHT: NATURAL WAYS TO

PREVENT AND REVERSE

MACULAR DEGENERATION (Warner Books 1998), say they have been prescribing a

regimen of food supplements for macular degeneration patients with some success.

 

 

Early signs of macular degeneration are detected in 13 million older

Americans, with approximately 4 million having lost some central vision. There

is no

effective surgical or laser treatment for most of the patients with this

disease.

 

Note: Dr. Richer only serves patients in the Veterans Health System and is

not in private practice. Drs. Marc and Michael Rose can be reached at their Los

Angeles office at (323) 221-6121. ©Copyright 1999

 

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