N107 Nursing Interventions II AY 23-24

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AMD nursing interventions mostly involve patient teaching and family involvement, as nutrition-related interventions often include other members of the family, especially if the patient is usually the person who cooks for the household. With this, it is important to emphasize the importance of a diet rich in vitamins C, D, and E as these vitamins serve as antioxidants that help maintain the integrity of the retina (Carneiro & Andrade, 2017). Zinc can also increase the amount of subretinal fluid in the macula along with its thickness which further lowers the risk of developing AMD in older patients (Kwong et al., 2019).

Through this care, an understanding of proper nutrition helps foster the adherence behavior of the patient and allows him to practice habits that maintain his nutrition. It is crucial to instruct the patient to incorporate daily consumption of green leafy vegetables or incorporate a diet that focuses on the increase of vegetable consumption such as the Mediterranean diet (daily fruit and vegetable, whole-grains, plant-based fat intake, and occasional red meat intake) (Tomada & Andrade, 2015). Additionally, foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as fish, nuts, seeds, and plant oils can also decrease the risk of AMD and improve subjective and objective vision (Young, 2022). In relation, when consuming fish oil, the retina is potentially protected since it is an anti-inflammatory (Kwong et al., 2019).

If the patients cannot fully implement these practices into their lifestyle, it should be encouraged to at least let them adopt a low-fat, low-sugar, and low-salt diet to avoid cardiovascular and other lifestyle-related diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus which could further impair perfusion to the eye.

REFERENCES

Carneiro, A., & Andrade, J. P. (2017). Nutritional and lifestyle interventions for age-related macular degeneration: A review. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, 2017(1), 6469138. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6469138

Kwong, J., Reinisch, C., Hagler, D., & Harding, M. M. (2019). Lewis's medical-surgical nursing: Assessment and management of clinical problems (11th ed.). Evolve.

Tomada, I., & Andrade, J. P. (2015). Science‐based anti‐ageing nutritional recommendations. Anti‐ageing Nutrients, 1(1),  333–390. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118823408.ch11

Young, A. (2022, May 1). Omega-3 fatty acids may improve vision in dry AMD. Healio. https://www.healio.com/news/ophthalmology/20220501/omega3-fatty-acids-may-improve-vision-in-dry-amd