Dr. Grossman’s Blog

We heard a lot about antioxidants, but what are they and why do we need them and where can we get them?

Free radicals are unstable atoms that attack other cells in their attempt to gain a missing electron that will make them more stable.  This attack harms the cells’ delicate membranes, thereby making them a target for disease. This process is called oxidation and it is responsible for aspects of the aging process including wrinkles, cataracts, and macular degeneration.

Antioxidants neutralize free radicals by donating an electron to the unstable cells. After being neutralized, those free radicals will no longer attempt to damage cells, and therefore become less harmful to the body.

Antioxidants can be found in a host of foods.

Four particularly important antioxidants:

Astaxanthin, Glutathione, CoQ10 and Super oxide dismutase.

Learn all about antioxidants at our website.

Photo courtesy of wa.gov

Stargardt’s disease is the most common inherited form of macular degeneration that strikes late in childhood.  This disease strikes 1 in 20,000 children over age six and generally leads to legal blindness.

Stargardt’s disease causes a progressive loss of central vision. The main signs and symptoms are loss of visual acuity or sharpness of vision, decreased color vision and small blind spots. Other symptoms may include blurriness and visual distortion, difficulty adapting to the dark after sunlight exposure, and/or light sensitivity. Sufferers with severe vision loss may also experience visual hallucinations and are the result of the brain trying to make sense of impaired visual input.

Nutrients such as lutein, zeaxanthin and mesozeaxanthin may help slow the progression of Stargardt’s Disease and/or prevent further vision loss. Patients with Stargardt’s disease are cautioned against taking vitamin A because researchers believe gene mutations lead to abnormal synthesis of the vitamin in the eyes, resulting in increased loss of vision.

For more information on the causes, prevention, and treatment of Stargardt’s disease, please visit our website.

Image by reuben4eva

“Phantom limb pain” is something we may have heard of, but it turns out that people with vision loss are also susceptible to a similar phenomenon.

Researchers who reported at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Joint Annual Meeting With the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology stated that patients with vision loss are much more likely to experience “vivid visual hallucinations” than previously believed.

Between 10-38% of those with vision loss from such conditions as macular degneration, experience what is called Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS).  According to study authors, “the hallucinations that CBS patients experience are usually fully formed images such as double-decker buses driving into the patient’s living room or people sitting on a couch. To make a diagnosis of CBS, patients must have visual loss, as well as insight into the unreal nature of the hallucinations.”

The article published in Medscape Medical News says, “Scientists now hypothesize that lack of true input into the primary visual cortex allows spontaneous release of remembered images into the visual association area. ‘But these imaging studies don’t tell us why one patient experiences these hallucinations and another does not,’ says Mary Lou Jackson, MD, from the Harvard School of Medicine–affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

Doctors involved with this research do not generally proscribe any treatment for CBS and believe that patients eventually grow accustomed to the experience.

Often, patients suffering from macular degeneration will use a different part of their retinas to make up for central vision loss. According to researchers from Georgia Tech’s School of Psychology, the brains macular degeneration patients can also compensate to vision changes by reorganizing their neural connections.

Using functional MRI technology, researchers found that even though study participants were relying on their peripheral vision rather than their central vision, the brain was actually processing information as if the patients had normal, unimpeded vision.

Study leader Eric Schumacher told Science Daily: “Our results show that the patient’s behavior may be critical to get the brain to reorganize in response to disease.  It’s not enough to lose input to a brain region for that region to reorganize; the change in the patient’s behavior also matters.”  This “behavior change” is the macular degeneration patient’s ability to compensate for central vision loss by relying on other areas of the visual field.

Source: EyeWorld News Magazine

Visit our website for self help tips specifically for macular degeneration sufferers.

Pfc. Crystal M. O'Neal, 2HBCT Public Affairs, courtesy US Government

Scientists have found a new way to screen patients for common eye diseases using LED technology.  An article in Review of Scientific Instruments describes the new system which uses six different wavelengths of light to illuminate the eyeball.

Using light-absorbing compounds already present in the eye, researchers are finding a way to capture better diagnostic images by working with the way different pigments appear in multispectral images.  One advantage of this new diagnostic procedure is its speed – it can capture images quickly enough to avoid distortion caused by natural eye movements.

It is hoped that this technology can be developed further and be made widely available to optometrists and opthamologists seeking the best diagnostic tool for their patients when screening for such eye diseases as macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

Source: scienceblog.com

Photo by Gastonmag

In an attempt to determine how to increase the public’s lutein intake, Spanish scientists have been studying how lutein fortified bread and muffins may effectively deliver the nutrient to consumers.  Findings published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry show that using high-lutein wheat and corn flower in bread products resulted in “reasonable amounts” of  this powerful  antioxidant still available in the cookies, muffins, and breads.

Lutein is a carotenoid used in the retina and lens of the eyes. Studies have shown that low lutein levels can be a factor in the development of macular degeneration. Also, those with high concentrations of lutein in their systems are 50% less likely to develop cataracts.

Research on lutein supplementation in food is still ongoing and study authors say that “more research is being carried out to evaluate antioxidant properties of these wholegrain high-lutein food products.”

Source: http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Muffins-and-bread-show-lutein-carrier-potential-for-eye-health

Image courtesy of Microsoft

An egg a day can protect people over age 60 from developing macular degeneration.  A study published in the Journal of Nutrition the levels of powerful antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin in participants’ blood increased between 26 and 38% if they ate one egg per day.

The single egg did not contribute to participants’ cholesterol levels.

Studies have proven that low eye levels of antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin, could contribute to Aged-Related Macular Degeneration.

Find more research abstracts on macular degeneration on our website.

Australian scientists may have made a discovery that could lead to the development of better tests to detect eye diseases like glaucoma and macular degeneration.  Research published in  the Journal of Vision suggests that color sensing cells in retina, which were previously believed to be able to only respond to specific colors, can also detect black and white moving objects as well.  According to lead researcher Paul Martin: “For a long time we’ve had an image of the brain as a kind of computer, with particular pathways or ‘wires’ for particular nerve signals.  Now, it is becoming clear the wiring is a lot less precise than a computer.”

What might this mean for you when its time to be screened for eye disease?  Discoveries like this one help scientists better understand how cells in the eyes respond to stimuli, and the more they know about how the eye works, the more able they are to improve eye testing procedures and technologies.

Source: ABC Science

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently announced that it has approved new technology that could help improve vision to people age 75 or older with end-stage, age-related macular degeneration.

The Implantable Miniature Telescope (IMT) just approved by the FDA is a first-of-its kind device, according to the manufacturer, VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies.

To learn more, see the company’s on-line patient information booklet at www.centrasight.com

Editor’s Notes: For dietary and nutritional recommendations for those with AMD or those at risk, Click Here

MicroCurrent Stimulation (MCS) is an enhanced adaptation of a FDA approved therapy used by anesthesiologists, orthopedic surgeons, plastic surgeons and rehabilitative specialists to promote the healing of wounds and transplanted tissues as well as to treat pain.

The theory is that MCS helps

1. re-stimulate and energize dormant retinal cells (cells are like batteries — when they run low in energy, they become sluggish and dormant),
2. boost the cells’ ability to rid themselves of waste products which interferes with the flow of energy, nutrients and communication,
3. increase blood supply to the area stimulated. By increasing blood flow to the area, cells and tissues still living can get nourished and refreshed.

Research suggests that microcurrent electrical stimulation device approximates the level of electrical activity present in a healthy eye, resulting in stimulating retinal activity and energizing dormant cells, as well as improving microvascular circulation, nerve conduction and velocity.

Microcurrent stimulation increases ATP (energy) synthesis in the retinal cells needed for membrane viability and waste management (a major concern for those with dry macular degeneration as excess waste not reabsorbed and eliminated results in waste accumulation called “drusen”).

Macular Degeneration and Retinitis Pigmentosa are treated with very precise amounts of tightly controlled electrical current through electrodes applied to the skin at specific areas around the eye. The electrical current is used to stimulate the retina as well as the diseased macula in order to help protect sight. The procedure is safe, noninvasive, and painless and no side effects or adverse reactions have been observed.

For more about MicroCurrent Stimulation, click here.