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(NaturalNews) A retired optician says he has cured his own case of age-related blindness by self-medicating with a supplement containing a marigold derivative.

"I decided to this off my own back," said 73-year-old Harry Marsland. "I treated myself, which is the very thing you're not supposed to do in any profession. As a retired professional, I feel a responsibility to get this message across to as many people as possible."

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of blindness in people over the age of 60, and causes loss of vision in the center of the eye. "Wet" AMD occurs when abnormal blood vessel growth leads to the destruction of the eye's light-sensitive (photoreceptor) cells. "Dry" AMD occurs when the photoreceptors atrophy without blood vessel damage.

Marsland lost vision in his right eye to wet AMD in 2001, and soon after began to suffer from dry AMD in his left. Eventually, he lost so much vision that he could no longer move around on his own, and began to consider learning Braille.

The retired doctor tried experimental laser, vitamin and supplement treatments, but nothing made any difference. Then in 2007, he was given a flier about a new AMD supplement containing a marigold extract, an ingredient he had yet to try. So Marsland spent £150 ($240) on a year's worth of the treatment.

"I now know, professionally, that I have recovered almost completely from the effects of the dry AMD in my left eye," Marsland said. "I am the first person to have such good fortune. I have recovered 95 per cent of the sight in my left eye which is miraculous, considering that at one point I was literally blind in the dark."

The supplement contained the marigold extract meso-zeaxanthin, as well as the spinach derivative lutein and the corn derivative zeaxanthin. Marsland had previously tried both lutein and zeaxanthin, which are recommended by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, but they had never had any effect.