You have a cataract and are waiting for surgery? Insist on testing to rule out the onset of macular degeneration (AMD). Because replacing a cloudy lens with an artificial one can rapidly accelerate the development of AMD and even lead to blindness …
Cataract surgeryis the standard solution for this disease, but before you decide to have it, check if you have any additional issues withAMD (this ismacular degeneration ).
If the eye, with only developing cataracts, is completely he althy, it is possible and even necessary to operate it, i.e. remove the natural lens and implant an artificial one. After the lens replacement procedure, the patient's eyesight improves and nothing should go wrong.
Artificial lens does not protect against macular degeneration
- However, if in the retina, apart from the cataract, changes related to AMD, i.e. macular degeneration (dry or wet form) began to occur, the patient must take into account that after replacing the lens with an artificial eye, it is not adequately protected. in radiation (the natural lens does not allow harmful rays to pass through), which can rapidly accelerate the development of AMD, leading to blindness within six months - warns Prof. Andrzej Stankiewicz, head of the Ophthalmology Clinic of the Military Medical Institute at ul. Szaserów in Warsaw and president of the AMD Association. - It happens that a patient with minimal cataracts or with cataracts in the initial stage goes to the doctor, who will not examine him very carefully whether he will not detect the developing AMD and refer him to an artificial lens implantation surgery. After the surgery, eyesight works fantastic, but only for a few months … The question arises: is it better to function with a slowly developing cataract or in a few months of good vision to lose eyesight for the rest of your life?
Before the lens replacement surgery, people genetically predisposed to AMD occurrence and people at risk should undergo thorough examinations by a specialist. Additionally, genetic tests can be performed, unfortunately they are not reimbursed and there are few centers that perform them. The cost of such a test varies between PLN 200 and PLN 800.
- People at risk are people with vascular diseases, heart diseases, highcholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure or smoking. An ophthalmological examination that should be performed additionally is OCT, i.e. optical coherence tomography of the fundus, which will allow the visualization of changes in the retina, even initial ones, invisible in an ordinary examination - says Prof. Andrzej Stankiewicz. - In the case of advanced or total cataracts, there is no need to wonder, but you need to operate, because only surgery can restore vision.
When AMD changes are visible at the fundus after surgery, treatment with special injections administered to the inside of the eye may be a rescue.
- In the moderately advanced wet AMD stage, the treatment is effective, although it requires constant monitoring and repetition. Since September 2010, it has been reimbursed by the National He alth Fund - says prof. Andrzej Stankiewicz.
What is Macular Degeneration (AMD)?
AMD is a disease that affects an area at the back of the eye known as the macula. The spot is responsible for central vision and is needed for everyday activities such as reading, recognizing faces, and road signs. As a result of the disease, the patient loses the ability to central vision, dark spots or blurring appear in the center of the field of vision, the image is distorted or distorted. AMD is one of the most common causes of adult blindness in the world. It reveals after 50-60. years of age, after 70, almost 30 percent people are affected by this disease. Usually, the changes affect both eyes, although they do not have to occur simultaneously and their severity may be different.
The different faces of macular degeneration
There are two forms of age-related macular degeneration: dry and wet. The dry form is present in 90%. cases. It is a milder type of AMD and takes months or even years to develop. The changes that take place in the macula are primarily atrophic in nature. Cells responsible for the proper perception of visual impressions and the functioning of the retina die. Central vision is gradually lost. In the initial stage of the disease, small deposits appear at the fundus. In the advanced stage, there is extensive retinal-choroid atrophy.
The wet form of AMD occurs in approx. 10% of patients. cases and is usually severe, with significant loss of vision occurring within a few days. Its essence is the formation of abnormal vessels around the macula, which form the so-called subretinal membrane. There are leakages and hemorrhages at the bottom. In the final stage, permanent damage to the retina may occur.
AMD treatment
Treatment of AMD is based on inhibiting the development of the disease. In dry-variety therapydrugs that improve blood circulation and a diet rich in lutein are used. In the case of wet AMD, treatment consists of destroying abnormal blood vessels, including with the aid of a laser (provided that the vessels that require destruction are not in the center of the macula). Specialists also have photodynamic therapy by introducing a dye into the blood, captured by pathological vessels, and then activated by laser beams that destroy them. Surgical treatment is also sometimes used. Pharmacological treatment is also used, including steroids. In pharmacies you can buy preparations and dietary supplements with preventive and therapeutic effects in AMD, containing beta-carotene, vitamins C, E, PP, as well as zinc and selenium.