MedMinute: Tips On Checking For Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
Vision problems from middle age onward can usually be corrected with glasses, but the disease known as age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, can lead to permanent vision loss
For most of us, glasses solve the problem of aging eyes. But 800,000 people a year are diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration. When the macula -- a part of the retina -- stops functioning properly, we lose our central vision. Ninety percent of AMD cases are of the generally asymptomatic "dry" form, but one in 10 is the far more serious "wet" form. Dr. Michael J. Cooney, Director of the Duke University Center for Macular Degeneration says the wet form develops when abnormal blood vessels start to grow among the dry AMD changes.
"These blood vessels can bleed and cause scar tissue to accumulate, resulting in severe central vision loss."
Cooney says some patients with wet AMD are treated with a laser procedure called photodynamic therapy. New evidence supports that high-dose antioxidant vitamins can slow the progression of AMD.
"It's important for patients to understand that AMD affects the central vision and does not cause complete blindness; that all patients over age 55 should have an annual dilated eye exam to look for signs of AMD; and that treatments are now available for most AMD patients."
I'm Cabell Smith for MedMinute.