UI vision experts share latest information on age-related macular degeneration

Despite fears to the contrary, most patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are not are not necessarily on a collision course with blindness.

So say two leading eye experts at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

"Patients with AMD fear they will go totally blind, and that there's nothing they can do about it," says James Folk, MD, a professor of ophthalmology. "As clinicians, we allay their fears and tell them that they can do a lot to reduce their risk of vision loss."

Folk and a colleague, clinical associate professor Mark Wikinson, OD, know that many people are eager for the latest information.

To help meet that need, they wrote Protect Your Sight: How to Save Your Vision in the Epidemic of Age-Related Macular Degeneration. The book contains:

• Specific steps people with AMD can take to help retain their vision
• Current information about the disease
• Detailed information on how vision rehabilitation service can help those who have already lost vision
• Tips on how to best keep up with the latest discoveries and treatments.

The book's target audience—patients and eye doctors alike—is large. AMD is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the Western world. The disease destroys central vision by damaging the macula, the part of the retina that provides detail and color vision.

Protect Your Sight is published online at www.medrounds.org/protect-your-sight, where it can be read for free.

"The format makes it easy for us to update the book because this is a rapidly evolving field," Folk says. "It is virtually impossible for the general eye doctor, much less the patient, to keep up with advances that save vision."

Folk also maintains a blog at www.medrounds.org/amd to keep other clinicians, researchers, and interested lay people updated on AMD issues.

How to slow AMD

• Avoid fatty or fried foods
• Eat fresh vegetables and fish
• Consult your physician about taking high doses of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and zinc

For more information

• Call UI Health Access toll-free and ask for the Sarah Smith, RN, in the Vitreoretinal Service
• Call Sarah Smith, RN, directly at 319-356-7218
• E-mail sarah-smith@uiowa.edu
• Visit the UI Carver Family Center for Macular Degeneration Web site at www.c4md.org

—Becky Soglin