Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Its Management

Abstract

A 75-year-old woman notes increasing difficulty with reading and walking down steps in dim light over the past 6 months. During her last comprehensive eye examination 1 year ago, she recalls that she had been diagnosed with early cataracts and also was told she had the beginning signs of macular degeneration. While she was somewhat anxious with this latter diagnosis, her doctor told her to consider taking a dietary supplement. She bought a multivitamin with lutein over the counter as she heard from a friend that people with macular degeneration should take this supplement. She believed that her progressive difficulty with vision was either because her glasses needed changing or her cataracts were worsening, or she was just losing vision with age.

Adapted in part from Clinical Advances in Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Continuing Medical Education Enduring Material, 2007–2008.