Welcome to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation RU-vid channel where you can learn about age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and find valuable resources for living with AMD.
Eye Exercises and taking Eye Nutrients daily has kept my AMD at bay for 5 yrs now. Google for info on both. Eye exercises are so easy to do and you do them often day in day out. The Eye Drs...yes more than one Dr told me that nothing can be done for AMD which is WRONG. You now must do for yourself...still get Check ups but you must do it for yourself! Be patient and determined and you may get Good results. The woman who tells us to be PROACTIVE is what I'm agreeing with here now. Good Wishes to all with AMD. APPLY YOURSELF IT'S UP TO YOU! DO IT!👁️
I have advanced amd in my left eye and a cataract in my right eye. I declined having a needle stuck into my eyeball every two months so it is untreated. I dont see any reason to do this treatment if it cant cure the problem and i have decided to adjust and get on with my life. I do very well living alone and have whatever i need delivered. I m a reclusive person anyway so staying in is not a oroblem for me. I live in a retirement apartment and am very surprised by how many of my neighbors dont understand what i am dealing with. I have learned to avoid gatherings here and prefer my own company with my two cats. I have a large screen tv and a kindle to adjust the size of print for the books i read every day. My doctor wull continue to monitor the cataract to see if and when i need that surgery.
It doesn't sound like your doctor gave you enough information about what the injections will do. If you have wet macular degeneration, and there is bleeding in the back of the eye, the injections will stop that bleeding and significantly slow or stop further vision loss. It won't return vision you've already lost, but it will help maintain the vision you have for longer. Letting wet macular degeneration go unchecked will progress your vision loss more rapidly. We hope this information helps. Of course each person makes the decisions that feel right to them!
Liz story is ohh so familiar. I am am also from Toronto with dry mmd in the left and wet in the right. Different diseases with basically the same results. Sadly with mmd they can only treat the symptoms and the the diseases itself. The irony thanks to DNA testing i found out i have the genes for amd which isn't surprising my father had it. The irony which is almost funny is if i live long enough to develop amd it wont matter as the mmd well have taken that part of my vision already🙄. Everything she says is so familiar but she totally correct we adapt and it's all about the attitude. We don't know how many tom we have so why make any of them bad.
My wife(lesbian couple) was diagnosed a couple of years ago. No changes yet, but working with eye meds and eliminating seed oils. How old were you when you were first diagnosed? My wife, like you, is very physically active-gardening, hiking, skiing. Seeing you be able to navigate your woods was a relief to see (no pun intended). Still am nervous for her-and us, but really appreciated your attitude.
3rd year optometry student here: It likely will not. If you think of the eye like a camera, the cataract in your lens is like the lenses of the camera while the retina is like the film. If the film is damaged, changing the lens in the front wont do a whole lot for you. There is also a concern with how the retina will respond to the surgery and what affects that may have on the AMD. Don't be afraid to talk to your doctor and ask questions, it's part of their job to educate! Best of luck to you!
Oh my goodness, thank you Liz for this wonderful video. I have wet AMD...my eyes are dry now, after receiving injections, and cataracts. I will be meeting with the cataract doctor soon and I hope that will be of help. I love my ophthalmologist and trust him completely. I too have been really active...will turn 80 in June and have committed to doing one last half marathon in October in Detroit. Thank you thank you, thank you. And, to EVERYONE with AMD who has watched this...I wish you all the very best.
My mother has AMD and is receiving treatment (shots in her eyes). She said that it isn't getting any worse with the treatments. She is also taking her AREDs, and eatting better. She also lives by herself and can get along just fine. Since that is happening, I am also taking the AREDs, eatting better and wearing my blue blocker sunglasses more outside. BTW, my grandmother also had AMD. So genetics!
Oh Liz, thank you for this vid. I am 77 years old and live in NYC alone. No one I know shares my condition therefore it's difficult for them to relate to my situation which adds frustration to my challenges. For someone like me who has led an active, strong, fully functional life, the aging process alone is a hard nut to swallow and vision loss is terrifying. To those in my life who are spared personal experience with this condition and try to be supportive, I will share your vid and hope they will be informed in ways I am unable to communicate. Thank you.
Welll I just had early diagnosis and only given sample of pharmaceuticals vitamins. I’m an interior designer, play cello , pianolove to travel- drive mountain roads! , cook , read… I’m single without support system so a bit freaked out. How much time left to plan
3rd year Optometry student here: there is help out there! Look for a low vision/ vision rehabilitation specialist (a type of optometrist), they will know of resources that can help you plan ahead and help you manage your vision. I know it seems like a bleak outlook right now but the AMD patients I have seen are very happy and do tons of things! I know one guy who still builds houses and hunts for trees to make maple syrup all on his own! Stay positive! Best of luck to you!
I am SO sorry, Sandra!!! That is awful! I am 72 and have aggressive AMD. Wet in left and in right. The RIGHT was OK until my 3rd monthly visit. The doctor caught it when it JUST started as a DRY problem. Then both of them ended up wet.by keeping an eye on it while treating my LEFT. Guess I won't be running up stairs anymore. The shots were so painful after the numbing drops wore off, but I thought it would be WORTH IT to prevent me from going blind! GAD!!!! I live alone and have no family now. I was the youngest. Thank God for my friends that reassured me that I won't end up in some facility. Almost 2 weeks into it. Still in denial. Have my 2 cats, sweet as can be. June from Maine
@@zimjun7 Thank you for sharing the outcome of your amd. Your words are comforting and realistic. I have to face that nature will take it's course. But I think I have to really cut down the my sugar as I am diabetic and just keep my stress low.
@@sandrafernandez3839 There is hope ahead, Sandra. God's Earthly Kingdom...sooner than you think. I had just put the website on here, but it got bumped off, I feel. June
There is no medicine but there are things that may help reverse it. There are at least 2 MDs online who talk about preventing, and perhaps partially reversing, macular degeneration. They say it's not age-related, it's diet related. Most other countries don't get it or, at least, not nearly as much as Americans do. One of the online doctors is Dr. Ken Berry, M.D. This is no joke---look him up! (He's got a huge following because he's so very helpful---3,000,000 followers.) He also says that one of the major offenders in causing it are the so-called "vegetable oils."
Yes, thank you! Have you seen our cooking show? AMDF has supported research into diet for many years now! We are always glad to hear when people take control of modifiable risk factors.
Now stem cell transplantation for macular degeneration seems to be big pie in the sky. Stem cell therapy is to help those endogenous stem cells to clear away so-called inhibitory molecules so that its regenerative potentials can be triggered for regeneration, i.e. dedifferentiation, differentiation and proliferation. Autologous and/or allogeneic stem cells transplantation are outright wrong. God's mercy nano-medication that's based on God created man out of an extract of clay from ground should be the only regenerative medicine, stem cell therapy. All glory belongs to God!
This is an amazing site. Thank you! Hearing all of these experiences and positive people. I was diagnosed just 2 weeks ago with Dry Macular Degeneration in a very nonchalant way while collecting my new glasses from the optician. I had never heard of it. My GP sent me immediately to Moorfields Eye Hospital in London where I live. That was Thursday. Now waiting to find out what stage I’m at and what should I do! I work full-time and live alone. Very worried right now but will wait to hear from the doctors next week. I’m a mega active person so this worries me. Thank you everyone. X
Very sorry to hear of your diagnosis, but there are many things you can do to slow the progression. You should also look into Lumithera/Valeda which you are fortunate to have as an option in the UK (not yet available here).
@@karenfitzpatrick1739 I see! Thanks for clarifying. I hope you're doing well with it all. And I hope they come up with some sort of pill for this soon.
@@karunald Thank you - I have injections once a month but Macular definitely distorts your vision and yes I hope they come up with something too. I live in Australia and a lot of people have it here.
@@karenfitzpatrick1739 it's wonderful you did this piece to help educate and give hope. So often when people get diagnosed with anything (when everything is suddenly 'big' and scary)- we all want to know we're not alone. It's kind of.... 'everything'.
I never saw it coming I never knew about it but now it's here and I have it I've always already lost the one of my right eye but the strangest thing is I can still see imaginably well Like if you look at a light post I can see the post but I can't see the light or a telephone pole I can see the pole but I can't see the transformer or like an American flag I can see the pool but not the flag Damn shame but that's my right eye My left eye is getting ready to go but here I found out about it too late damn shame but you live on and deal with what you have to deal with That's what I have done for 69 years of my life
Thank you for sharing this my mother Has wet AMD in both of her eyes as well as glaucoma and has had it for a little over 5 years and is 63 years old. I'm trying to learn as much as possible in order to help her out now and in the future. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for this! I had commented before on your video(s) not featuring people living alone with AMD and you provided a thoughtful response at the time. I appreciate that you made this. I can relate to a lot that Liz is saying, although I'm in the early days she talks about, doing everything humanly possible to reduce the progress.... in an urban Canadian city, determined to be out and about. It's great to hear her talk about moving forward and dealing with each challenge as it comes up. Thank you for doing this and thank you to Liz for the depth of detail she goes into on different aspects of life. It definitely inspires hope.
You're so welcome! We are glad you found inspiration in Liz's story, and Liz will no doubt be happy to hear as well. There are as many unique stories as there are people with macular degeneration, and we hope to cover enough topics so that everyone has a little bit of hope and inspiration.
I am 80 years young 😊 and I have wet AMD in one eye and dry in the other. Have been getting Eylea injections for the wet AMD for 2+ years. I’m doing very well with the treatments and my dr is wonderful. Thank you for this wonderful video and I agree with everything Liz said. I applaud her positive attitude! She is an inspiration! Liz, I wish you all the best and many more years living your life to the fullest as you bravely have been!
Everyone's story and experience is unique! But we are trying to bring awareness to devices and services that can help people live more independently for longer.
This guy is a quack. He talks about Rayban glas etc and eating this and that and people buy it!! Macular problems are not to be left to such quacks but to real and good eye doctors.
