My poor Nan has macular degeneration

Sarahsaver

My Mum got a lamp and a magnifier from the low vision clinic, and also was told to sit nearer the telly if she could not see it.

How bad does your eyesight have to be before you can get addittional benefits? Who decides?

cwp500

so sorry to hear of your nans plight.

The NHS is not the safety net that we all would like it to be.

I would suggest that you also write to your local MP with regard to this matter. There may be no immediate NHS change but it will help any others in the same situation if we complain to our representatives about this type of shortcoming.

It raises the question again of having a thread devoted to petitions for worthy causes and loopholes in our benefits system that need closing.

I for one would be perfectly happy to contribute details to any petition threads and considering the number of MSE members these days it could be a considerable force for good.

With regard to macular degeneration, it is proven that eating spinach can help to retard the onset of this condition and even improve early onset. we should all try and incorporate some spinach into our weekly diet for this reason alone.

BernardM

Sarahsaver wrote: »

This is not appropriate here! I think from the sound of it the people being discussed here are beyond the 'eat your greens' stage :eek:

Dont ever give up hope Sarah

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6782415/Retired-optician-cures-own-blindness-with-marigolds.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/028566_blindness_marigolds.html

HOWMUCH

If your Nan requires Lucentis injections then they are available on the NHS, I am a clinical coder and I code them regular into patients medical records.

pollypenny

I was wondering why/how this old thread has been revived.

However, I found it very interesting, since my dad had age related macular degeneration. My aunt also has it and she has been recently widowed. I am encouraging her to contact the RNIB, but pride is preventing her!

On my recent eye check, the optometrist assured me that it wasn't hereditary.
Hope she was was right.

leylie

Pollypenny...can I suggest that you look at this

http://www.maculardisease.org/

you'll get all the info you need about MacD, and they offer all sorts of excellent advice & info. I would also highly recommend the RNIB publication 'See for yourself'..lots of useful, practical hints and tips.

(I have 10 years experience working in a charity as an advisor for people with sight loss)

oops sorry, web address brought forward incorrectly - hopefully OK now

pollypenny

Thanks very much, leylie. Link not working for me though.

My aunt has said she'll contact the RNIB again. her husband had done so before he died.

Arthurian

Hardly anything wrong with my vision, but have taken these for a few weeks at a time when I realised I would soon need specs for reading and to my surprise found they really improved my eyesight. Not cheap, though, for extended use. Just thought I would post this as it can be difficult to figure out if herbal remedies work.

http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=1255&prodid=1345