macular degeneration and sun-gazing: strangers?

I've been recently looking into (no pun intended) "macular degeneration", since a family member is losing her sight and has been diagnosed with this. At the same time, I've acquired the Bates Method book, because my own vision has significantly deteriorated (though I never wear my glasses)from what it was say five or six years ago. (Probably too much computer time.) I'd like to get my sight back to where I can do fine detail work that I used to do ( sculpture, drawing, painting, hand-sewing...) up until a few years ago, AND see things at a distance. Haven't yet begun the Bates exercises as yet...has anyone here had experience with them?

But here's what I find curious--and the main question that prompted this post

(taken from one of the mainstream *macular degeneration* sites)

"It has been found that extended exposure to the ultra violet rays in sunshine can be harmful because this ultra violet light produces free radicals that are harmful to vision. Individuals are encouraged to protect the eyes at all times and limit exposure to direct sunlight."

okay -- I guess I can appreciate the extended part and all, but where does the practise of sun-gazing fit into all this? It seems like yet another of these endless contradictions: sun does damage; sun is a great healer. Would one have to acclimatise the body while it's still fairly young, in order that the UV would not behave this way? Is there any way someone older could become proficient at the practise of sun-gazing and even reverse the damage caused by improper sun exposure?

Is sun-gazing actually the homeopathic version -so to speak- of ordinary sun over-exposure (complete with its over-use of sunscreens and sunblocks)?


Can anyone shed light on this subject?