Can I influence the course of my macular degeneration myself by doing sports?

We are all the time asked by with macular degeneration affected persons whether physical movement and sports have an impact. We cannot answer this for sure but have looked into this topic, did research and found some interesting sources and information about the relation between sports and macular degeneration.

What do studies say about the relation of sports and macular degeneration?

An American research team around Paul T. Williams found out with a study with 29,000 male and 12,000 female runners that there is a connection between running and eye diseases. It is said that there is a relation between run kilometers and the risk of getting infected. Running could lower the risk of getting a cataract or macular degeneration. Furthermore it is said that with every run Kilometer the risk is reduced by 10 percent.

The risk of getting macular degeneration in people that run a lot and have a daily quota of over four Kilometers is reduced by 45 to 54 percent.

Another study with 4,000 inhabitants of the US city of Beaver Dam at Wisconsin showed that sports have a clear influence in getting macular degeneration. The research team declared that the physical exertion had a positive influence on the body cells as well as inflammation processes in the body and both was meaningful in getting a macular degeneration.

Our result - Recommendation

Unfortunately there are still relatively few studies, research and insights concerning macular degeneration and sports. It seems to give a clear context that movement can reduce the progression of eye disease and therefore of macular degeneration. Slow running makes probably more sense than performance-running. We consider it important to point out in respect of any sporting activity, its own individual physical boundaries and are not to overwhelm it. For massive physical excessive demands on the experience of interested parties also have negative effects appear on the course of macular degeneration can have.