Age brings with it wisdom, experience and the unfortunate decline of your eyesight. Around age 40, you'll probably notice that print is harder to read. It's an inconvenience easily remedied by a good pair of reading glasses. After age 60 though, a more serious condition, called macular degeneration, may set in. Macular degeneration causes more cases of vision loss in Americans over 60 than any other factor, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Grape seed extract has been proposed as a natural therapy for this condition, but evidence supporting its use is weak.
Macular Degeneration
Your retina has an area called the macula, which allows your central field of vision to remain clear and focused. When macular degeneration occurs, your vision grows blurry and you can experience blind spots. There are two forms of macular degeneration, wet and dry. If you have the dry form, you may notice colors appear faded, or you need more light in order to read. If you have wet macular degeneration, you may notice that things look small and far away, or that straight edges appear wavy.
Causes
With age, a layer of tissue in your eye called the retinal pigment epithelium may stop functioning as efficiently as it did in your younger days. This leads to a decrease in the transport of nutrients into the macula and a decrease in the transport of waste products out of it. Lack of blood supply causes a decline in vision due to the deterioration of the rods and cones of your eye. The cause of this deterioration of the retinal pigment epithelium is not completely understood, but age, gender, family history, smoking and long-term sunlight exposure may all increase your risk.
Grape Seed Extract
Grape seed extract has been used to address health problems that involve your heart and blood vessels. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, grape seed extract has shown promise in the treatment of venous insufficiency, edema and diabetic retinopathy, a visual disorder frequently experienced by diabetics. This has lead to the supposition that grape seed extract might also be helpful in the treatment of macular degeneration, though UMMC notes that no studies have been conducted to evaluate grape seed extract as a treatment for macular degeneration.
Dosages
Consult your doctor for dosage recommendations if you are interested in taking grape seed extract as a treatment for macular degeneration. The University of California at Davis states that grape seed extract appears to be relatively safe, but recommends that pregnant and breastfeeding women should not exceed the dosage you'd normally find in foods.
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