Read about Colleen McCullough’s personal story in the June 2004 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly Best-selling Australian author and National Treasure, Colleen McCullough, has Macular Degeneration (MD) – the major cause of blindness in Australia. Today alone, more than 230 Australians will develop Macular Degeneration – and they won’t feel a thing. Like Colleen, these people will, over time, lose their central vision – the part of eyesight that’s needed for everything in daily life, such as writing, reading, watching TV, recognising faces, gardening and driving. And sight lost to Macular Degeneration can never be recovered. Macular Degeneration is a progressive eye condition whereby the macula – the place our sharpest central vision occurs – is attacked. Two-thirds of those registered as legally blind in Australia today are blind as a result of Macular Degeneration – and this number is set to treble over the next 25 years, if this epidemic is not addressed. For Colleen McCullough, the message is simple – “Don’t put it off. Make checking for Macular Degeneration a part of your routine”. “It’s an absolutely terrible sentence; really an awful thing to try and compensate for,” she says. “But I urge everyone to watch what they eat, try not to smoke and to have regular eye checks so that at least you give yourself a chance to prevent it.” If you’re over 50, have your eyes checked out for Macular Degeneration. There’s a lot you can do to make sure you don’t get Macular Degeneration, and to slow it down if you have it. Ways to reduce the risk of Macular Degeneration:
