What are risk factors, stages & prevention of retinal degeneration? - Dr. Sriram Ramalingam
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Macular degeneration, they are also
Macular degeneration, they are also called as AMD, or ARMD or age related macular degeneration. They are the third most common cause of vision loss in elderly patients after cataract and glaucoma. Here the person does not become blind, but his central vision is lost and the vision becomes very subnormal. He may see a small black spot in front of the eye, but because of the central part is affected, the peripheral part may be normal. Macula is the central part of the eye, which receives maximum signals, maximum light and you get maximum vision because of the macula. Here the macula gets affected because of ageing process or this is called as age related macular degeneration. The risk factors or ARMD or age related macular degeneration is most commonly smoking. Other than age, or atherosclerosis or high cholesterol leading to damage of blood vessels, hypertension or excessive exposure to excessive sunlight or what is called as an environmental factor. These are the common risk factors for a person developing age related macular degeneration. The most dramatic symptom of age related macular degeneration is what is called as the metamorphopsia or what is called as lines appear distort. When a person looks at a straight line, they appear to get distorted or occasionally the line will be discontinued. There will be a black spot in the centre of the eye. Other is slow recovery when the person is exposed to bight light. It takes a longer time for him to see it clearly as compared to the normal population. LAW, they have a very good peripheral vision or what is called as the side vision. So the central vision is affected, they will not be able to read or write because in the centre there will be a bright light. These are the visual symptoms in age related macular degeneration. Stages of macular degeneration, early, intermediate and late. The early stages, there are no symptoms. Once your ophthalmologist on dilated examination may find white or what is called as yellowish white deposits in the centre of the eye or the submacula. These deposists are called as drusens. So if a person has got a drusens, it means thata he has got an age related macular degeneration in the early stage. In the intermediate stage, there may be some amount of distortion of vision and there may be a decrease in the vision. But usually these may not also cause that much of a symptom. The late stages can also be divided into two types, one is called as a dry type and one is called as wet type. In the dry type, the drusens can be combined together and cause distortion of vision, whereas in the wet type, there is a new blood vessel growth from inside the eye, which leads to dramatic decrease of vision. So treatment is usually required in the dry type or in the wet type or the late stages of ARMD. The cause is not known. So there is no prevention. But stopping smoking and exercising and having a healthy diet is known to prevent the age related macular degeneration. Use of antioxidants does not prevent the development of age related macular degenerations. But a person who has ARMD, the dry type, use of antioxidants may prevent the progression of this ARMD. If a person has got a wet type of ARMD, when there is a loss of vision, vision recovery is not possible. But one can prevent the further progression of the wet type of ARMD, by giving certain injections called as anti-VEGF or Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor or anti Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor injections. One may even advise laser treatment or one can also advise what is called as photodynamic therapy. But these are the treatments available. To prevent the progression, there is no treatment, which can recover your vision. So how long does it take for the vision to loose? It is a question which nobody can answer, because the cause itself is not know. At the age of 50, the incidence of ARMD is 0.5%. But by the age of 18, the incidence is around 12%. So it increases with age. Having a healthy diet, stop smoking, decreasing excessive alcohol or excessive fat intake is supposed to prevent the development of ARMD. But as such, once ARMD develops, the loss of vision cannot be recovered. So it is an irreversible loss of central vison. The person never becomes blind because of ARMD, but you will be able to see peripheral. Side vision will be visible. But the central vison will not be possible for you to see. May not be able to read the small alphabets or the small books, but atleast he will be able to see the big alphabets. So as such, ARMD there is no cure, that is cause is not exactly known why it is occurring. So patients do not become blind because they have they have ARMD.
7 سال پیش
در تاریخ 1396/04/23 منتشر شده
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