Macular Degeneration Can Rob You of Sight: Know the Signs

SUNDAY, Feb. 6, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Early analysis and care can typically cease the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the main explanation for imaginative and prescient loss in older Americans, the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) says.

As a part of AMD Awareness Month in February, the society urges folks to concentrate to their imaginative and prescient and study extra about AMD.

Age is the primary danger issue for AMD, and other people with a household historical past have an elevated danger. Other danger components embody: smoking, weight problems, hypertension, extreme solar publicity, and a eating regimen low in fruit and veggies.

It’s essential to pay attention to the signs of AMD.

Watch for altered or wavy strains that needs to be straight. Cover one eye at a time and take a look at a door body or a checkerboard. If the strains look wavy or warped, it might be an indication of AMD. Or you should use an Amsler grid, which has black strains on a white piece of paper with a dot within the center.

Pay consideration to blurred central imaginative and prescient that may make it tough to see a buddy or liked one’s face clearly.

Look out for colours that seem washed out or uninteresting. You ought to get your eyes checked for those who discover any lower within the depth or brightness of colour.

“The earlier we see sufferers experiencing signs of AMD or any retinal situation, the earlier we will decide the reason for the signs and monitor the problem or use breakthrough therapies to safeguard sight,” ASRS President Dr. Philip Ferrone mentioned in a society information launch.

“Advances in imaging know-how and newer therapies together with eye injections with anti-VEGF medicines imply, very often, imaginative and prescient loss and blindness might be prevented when sufferers group with a retina specialist, so search care on the first signal or symptom,” Ferrone mentioned.

More info

There’s extra on AMD on the U.S. National Eye Institute.

SOURCE: American Society of Retina Specialists, information launch, Feb. 1, 2022