Macular degeneration is the most common cause of legal blindness in the United States. It is still a very frustrating disease in that the treatments for it are not as successful as we would like.
Evaluation of macular degeneration can be easily performed at the Corrective Eye Center. Many of our patients who undergo cataract surgery have various stages of the disease. Cataract surgery can be successful in those patients as long as degeneration is diagnosed prior to the surgery.
Treatment for macular degeneration may include intravitreal injections or laser treatment if the degeneration is in its wet form. Otherwise, multivitamin/multimineral tablets are used to prevent disease progression. Antioxidants, fish oils, and other supplements have been shown, in some studies, to slow the progression.
Preventing excess ultraviolet exposure may slow down the process of the disease and many eye care professionals may recommend ultraviolet protection in eye glasses because of this.
Cigarette smoking has been known to promote worsening of macular degeneration.