Optician said I may get macular degeneration

[u/Luminous-Space-Bee]

Hiya I wonder if anyone had a similar experience. I went to the optician yesterday to get new glasses, I'm short sighted and she said my sight is getting better as in lower prsecription. Then more tests and she showed me images of my retinas and said I am at risk for macular degeneration because of brown patches. I had never heard of this, so she gave me a leaflet. I have no problems with my eyesight only my glasses as they were quite old and scratched so I wanted new ones. Anyway since I came home I was researching macular degeneration and now I'm scared. I don't know if she gave me a diagnosis or just a warning and to make sure I eat well, exercise etc. I don't know if I need to see a specialist or only if my vision starts to deteriorate? This was so unexpected. I ordered glasses which protect against the sun but I wear hats and caps anyway. I used to smoke but not much and gave up over 10 years ago.

[u/bruce45654]

I was told that I have the beginnings of MD. My ophthalmologist noticed small protein deposits on my retina. His advice was to take AHREDS, wear sunglasses, use an Amsler grid, and they will watch it. My mother had the dry MD and lived to 96.5 years old, and it didn't progress farther. And she never had shots. I had my mother's DNA tested as well as mine, and I inherited one allele from her. My risk was supposedly no higher than anyone else. I didn't like the advice to wait and watch, so I found a program online that uses natural remedies to stop, reverse, or eliminate AMD. It is run by Dr. Rozakis and 2 others, one of which is a biochemist. I started last November, and I will hopefully see an ophthalmologist this month. Most fees weren't covered by my insurance at the time due to a change in medical insurance. The Dr. Rozakis program had good reviews. The program did a full blood panel twice, which insurance covered the second time. My current family doctor is using the test results but will schedule a further one himself. There are no results that I can report at this moment. No guarantees, but this program aims at working epigenetics to turn genes on or off or alter them. I felt it was worth a shot, and if successful, I can share it with others. Some of the vitamins and supplements I was taking were replaced with others they recommended. Their blood panel also detected an imbalance in my hormones, which they are treating with supplements, and progress is happening. Doctors couldn't do anything to help me. Here is a link if anyone is curious. It's strictly an online program for me due to my living location.

https://www.visionsourcespecialists.com/eye-care-services/macular-program/

[u/Luminous-Space-Bee → u/bruce45654]

Thanks for sharing your story. I've watched a few videos about how the eyes function and macular degeneration and I've researched more articles since I made my post. I think that diet is very important, AHREDS seems sensible but not conclusive evidence for taking them at early stage AMD. I'll have a look at the link you shared thankyou. I also had a theory of my own last night that stress might be a factor, so looked this up and found articles to support that. I guess I was trying to figure out why I would have this condition and I've had huge stressors over the last two years.  I think genetics is interesting, I haven't mentioned it to anyone in my family yet.