See gallery 3 photos
Every year, about 25,000 new cases of macular degeneration are diagnosed in Poland, from the English called AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration) - a dangerous eye disease that, through degradation of the retina, can lead to blindness. So get your eyesight checked before you get macular degeneration.
About the diseaseAMDis said to be - social. No wonder - it affects approx. 25 million people in the world.Macular degenerationis conducive to the development of civilization with cardiovascular diseases at the forefront. People over 50 with blueeyesare particularly vulnerable to AMD. Women are sick more often. The risk factors include: atherosclerotic changes, hyperopia, smoking, exposing the eyes to strong sun.
First symptoms of macular degeneration
When AMD starts, straight lines first ripple, break, disappear somewhere. Later, the image in the center of the field of view becomes blurry. When a sick person wants to read a long word, he sees its beginning and end, but not the middle. While standing on the curb, she is afraid to cross the road, because she can only see what she has under her feet and high above the car. When someone approaches him, he sees shoes and the top of his head.
Later it is much worse - with time, the blur blocking the field of view grows larger, the side of the patient still distinguishes the light from the shadow, but in fact he does not see anything through the middle. Some patients experience slow deterioration of their eyesight, while others lose their eyesight quickly, even within a few weeks.
AMD is dry or wet
The macula is the part of the eye's retina responsible for visual acuity. The cause of the condition is the excessive, abnormal growth of blood vessels. 80 percent patients suffer from the dry form of the disease, 20 percent. exudative form. There is no effective treatment for the dry form of the disease, but there is a chance to save the eyesight of patients with the exudative form.
ImportantThe macula is in the center of the retina and is responsible for sharp and central vision during activities such as reading, driving, and recognizing faces. The retina itself plays a huge role in our eye - it is responsible for converting light energy into a biochemical signal, which then turns into electrical impulses.reaching the occipital lobe of the brain and determining the entire phenomenon known as visual perception.
Treatment of wet macular degeneration
Photodynamic therapy involves the injection of photosensitive verteporfin - a dye that stains new blood vessels in the affected eye. After 15 minutes, after applying a special lens to the diseased eye, the colored vessels are irradiated for 83 seconds with a diode laser. Its light triggers a photochemical reaction which destroys abnormal blood vessels. The retina comes out of the procedure unscathed. That's it.
Important early diagnosis of AMD
We cannot treat AMD disease, we can only stop its development. That is why early detection of macular degeneration is so important. It is important that the first selection of glasses does not take place at the optician, or even worse at the bazaar. Only an ophthalmologist is able to professionally examine the eyesight, measure the pressure, inspect the optic nerve disc, and rule out glaucoma. After the age of 45, it is worth checking your eyesight at least once every 1.5 years, because the diagnosis of this disease is really simple - says professor Jerzy Szaflik.