Therapy might slow macular degeneration
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My doctor tells me I have the beginning of macular degeneration. I am completely depressed by this. My mother had it, and her last years were not happy ones. If I go blind, I don’t know what I will do. I live alone and have no one to help me. Is there any treatment? — G.K.
ANSWER: The retina is the layer of cells covering the back of the eye. It transmits incoming visual information to the brain, where that information is processed into sight. In the center of the retina lies the macula, a structure whose diameter is only about 1/50 th of an inch. It is responsible for fine vision, the kind that permits reading newspapers, threading needles, driving a car and recognizing faces.
When a doctor looks into the eye with a scope, he or she can see the retina and macula clearly. There are a few changes that can provide a rough prediction that macular degeneration might occur in the future. They do not carry a sentence of mandatory degeneration. Further, no sign provides information on how rapidly macular degeneration will progress, if it progresses at all.
There is no cure for the dry kind of macular degeneration — your kind, and the more common kind. While a combination of vitamins and minerals might slow its progression, this combination does not act as a preventive for the condition.
Five hundred milligrams of vitamin C, 400 IU of vitamin E, 15 mg of beta carotene, 80 mg of zinc and 2 mg of copper might be able to retard the advance of macular degeneration once it has started. These doses of vitamins and minerals are many times greater than their recommended daily allowances. People should not begin this therapy on their own. They must get an approval from their doctors. Copper is in the mix because high doses of zinc interfere with copper absorption, and that can give rise to an anemia.
The facts on macular degeneration are outlined in the pamphlet with that name. Readers can obtain a copy by writing to: Dr. Donohue — No. 701W, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.50 U.S./$6.50 Canada with the recipient’s printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.
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DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have a 17-year-old son who wears a baseball hat all the time — indoors as well as outside. He’s a good kid, and I don’t want to badger him about this, but I will be most happy if you agree that constant hat-wearing causes baldness. It does, doesn’t it? — M.F.
ANSWER: I wish I could come to your aid, but I can’t. Hat-wearing doesn’t cause baldness. Why not ignore the issue? A teenager has it in his power to cause much more serious grief.