We often take our five senses for granted until, one day, we notice that one, perhaps our eyesight, is not as good as it used to be. The great physician, Dr Douglas Gairdner, once commented, ‘We have to accept that bits of our bodies wear out as we get older,’ and although this stoical observation is true, there is often some action we can take that will help to slow down the wearing out of our ‘bits’.
Of all our senses, eyesight is perhaps the most prone to the degenerative process due to aging. It is this age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that tends to affect mostly those in the 60+ age group. The Macular Society informs us that AMD is the largest cause of sight loss in the developed world, stating that there are 70,000 new diagnoses every year and that 12 percent of people over the age of 80 are affected by late-stage AMD. The condition is not painful and it’s for this reason that some of us don’t realize we have the condition until a certain loss of vision is noticed.
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The main symptom of macular degeneration is blurring of your central vision (what you see when you focus straight ahead). This means that you loose the ability to see fine detail, making reading and driving difficult. You also loose the ability to distinguish between objects such as faces against a background, and images, print and faces can appear distorted in the central area of your focus. Peripheral vision, to the side, isn’t affected. Both eyes tend to eventually be affected by AMD, although you may only notice problems in one eye to begin with.
The following are two developments of the condition known as AMD.
‘Dry eye’
Symptoms to be aware of that may suggest you have the condition:
• colours appear less vibrant
• text appears blurry
• you have difficulty recognising people’s faces
• you need brighter light than normal when reading
• your vision seems hazy or less well defined
If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, you should make an appointment with your GP or local optometrist.
‘Wet eye’
In most cases, the ‘wet’ condition tends to develop in those who have already had ‘dry’ AMD.
With wet AMD, the central blurring of the vision will have suddenly become worse, together with other symptoms such as
• blind spots – these usually appear in the middle of your visual field and become larger the longer they’re left untreated
• hallucinations – seeing shapes, people or animals that aren’t really there
• visual distortions – for example, straight lines may appear wavy or crooked
Causes
Interestingly, the causes of dry eye condition are said in part to be linked to our modern way of life— constantly looking at our mobile phones and tablets, and long hours gazing at computer screens, when the number of times we blink our eyes are often greatly reduced when concentrating on the screen. Blinking is important to us all as it distributes the tears over the eye, lubricating the surface and also providing oxygen and nutrients to the eye. If we’re not blinking enough, then we don’t lubricate the eye and this leads to symptoms such as the burning sensation that we associate with dry eyes. If there is not enough lubrication then there is also an increase in friction between the lid and the eye and this can exacerbate symptoms even more.
Treatments
Where common eye conditions do occur, such as, AMD, cataracts, and glaucoma, the medical profession has made many significant advancements in treatments over the last thirty years, and there are various centres of excellence that help in the treatment of these conditions. For example, the Dry Eye Centre in Devonshire Street, in the vicinity of Harley Street, is a specialist clinic dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of this particular condition. The Centre informs us that, ‘We understand that having dry eyes seriously impacts your quality of life, we want to listen and we want to help. We take the time needed to establish the root cause of your dry eye combining the latest diagnostic techniques and we have pioneered the use of the latest and most modern treatments available—we are the first clinic in the UK to provide the Intense Pulsed Light treatment.’ Simply described, this treatment is via a device that generates a polychromatic-pulsed light. The energy, spectrum, and time period are precisely set to stimulate the innervation (nerve stimulation) of the meibomian glands in order for them to return to their normal function. In addition, the heat generated by the flash of IPL warms and unblocks the glands.
Advice
If you have any of these conditions or if you notice any changes in your vision, then you need to take some prompt action. Dr Chris advises that you make an emergency appointment to see an optometrist because the AMD condition does require treatment as soon as possible to prevent your vision becoming worse.
Also, for those who have a parent who has the eye condition known as glaucoma, mentioned above, it is known that there are hereditary links, meaning that siblings may possibly be affected later in life. For this reason, those with a family history of glaucoma should have regular checks for the condition. If you’re aged 40 or over and you are the parent, brother, sister, son or daughter of a person diagnosed with glaucoma, or you have been advised by an ophthalmologist that you are at risk of glaucoma. This painless test is also free to all over the age of 60.
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