Protect Your Eyesight With Exercise
Need more motivation to move off the
couch? Physical activity could help
save your sight by warding off an eye
disease common among older adults.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that can eventually destroy the sharp, central vision critical to tasks like reading and driving. The more advanced form—“wet” AMD—causes sight loss when abnormal blood vessels grow and leak into the eye.
No Sweat
But people who lead an active lifestyle can lower their risk of “wet” AMD, according to a recent study in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. Researchers reviewed the health and habits of nearly 4,000 people between the ages of 43 and 86 during a period of 15 years. Those who exercised even moderately—at least three times a week— were 70 percent less likely to develop wet AMD than those who were sedentary.Walking regularly also helped older people avoid the disease. In the study, people older than 65 who routinely walked more than 12 blocks each day had 30 percent less chance of “wet” AMD than those who walked less.
