Share Are you tired of hearing the same old "eat right and exercise" advice?  You might want to listen a little more closely here to the results of two studies recently published.

If you have AMD, you know that your general health can contribute to AMD and vision loss - high cholesterol, low antioxidants, high saturated fat, smoking. And please keep watching those factors.

If you have AMD, your family has a higher risk for developing it as well, so listen up.

The CAREDS research looked at over 1300 women, age 55 to 74, tracked their diet, smoking and exercise habits for years.  This is what they found:

1. The healthier women had up to a three-fold reduction in the risk for early macular degeneration.

2. Exercise showed the strongest relationship - time spent was more important than strenuousness.

3. Women who smoked more than seven pack-years had a 45 percent INCREASED risk of AMD.

4. Women who followed a Mediterannean diet had a 66 percent REDUCED risk.

There also seemed to be a collective effect of healthy behaviors.  According to the authors of the study, the women with the least risk had never smoked, exercised 8-10 hours a week of low-intensity activity (like walking) and ate diets low in fat and high in vegetables, fruits, whole grains and variety of protein sources.

We've known for a long time that these factors play a role, but these high numbers may encourage all of us to live healthier lives and hold on to our vision.

And men?  Well, another study looked at men and women and belly fat in particular.  Heart disease and diabetes are more common in those who carry their weight around the waist.  Excess body fat can contribute to a variety of heart related illnesses.

But it turns out that excess belly fat can also increase the risk of macular degeneration IN MEN.  Each increase in the amount of belly fat caused a jump in the risk of early AMD - and  75 percent increase of advanced wet AMD - but only in men.  Women did not seem to react the same way, perhaps because of long-term exposure to estrogen.  This study involved 21,000 Australians followed from their 40s to their 80s.

July 2011