“Keep An Eye Out For & Protect Yourself From AMD” (Age Related Macular Degeneration)

LEICESTER, U.K. - Oct. 12, 2014 - PRLog -- What is AMD?

AMD (Age-Related Macular Degeneration) is a condition that affects the delicate and complex light-sensitive lining of the back of your eye known as your retina. The very central part of the lining is called the macula and although the size of a pinhead, yet is responsible for what we see straight in front of us.

There are two forms of AMD, Dry and Wet. The majority of people get Dry AMD, which results in the gradual deterioration in vision over a number of years. However, a smaller group of people develop Wet AMD, which can progress at great speed, causing severe vision loss within months or even weeks.

AMD is the largest cause of blindness in the UK and is being detected and found at earlier ages.

Who gets AMD?

1) You are more likely to get AMD if you’re aged over 50.

2) Smoking is strongly associated with increasing the risk of advanced AMD.

3) A poor diet and a family history also increases the chances of developing AMD

How to recognise AMD

In the early stages you may not even notice AMD. Sometimes it affects only one eye and your other healthy eye compensates for the vision loss. As the disease progresses it can affect your sight in several ways. The signs and symptoms are below:

Difficulty with vision, particularly reading small print in low light or distinguishing faces or other activities that require fine detail.

Straight line appear distorted wavy or bent. For example, tiles in your bathroom may appear wavy, or door and window frames don’t look straight or have ‘bumps’ in them.

The need for increased lighting, sensitivity to glare and decreased night vision and even colour vision.

Dark patches or empty spaces in the centre of your vision.

Living with AMD

Living with AMD can be daunting. You can feel that you lose your independence and have to rely on others. Other restrictions on your lifestyle can occur such as your ability to drive, enjoy hobbies and pastimes such as doing the crossword, sewing or watching TV. On the positive side, you never experience total darkness with AMD or black blindness an most people retrain useful side and peripheral vision.

If you are worried about AMD or you think you have any of the symptoms, don’t automatically put this down to your age or that you need new glasses. Make an appointment to see your optometrist or talk to your doctor who will advise regular eye health checks. The sooner AMD is diagnosed the better as action now will offer you the best chance of protecting and preserving your vision for your entire lifetime.

There are now successful treatments available for Wet AMD and although no cure as yet available for Dry AMD, it can certainly be slowed down with the right health and lifestyle changes if detected early. Regular gentle exercise, controlling your blood pressure and cholesterol, a healthy diet of green leafy vegetables and oily fish (omega 3) has also been proven to be beneficial. Turmeric, blueberries and kale also have been found to have a positive effects.) Antioxidant multivitamins capsules such as Macushield (http://macushieldsuccess.co.uk/)

have been shown to slow down progress. Protecting te eyes from blue light found in LED lights, VDU’s and Smart phones, plus protection from UV light  from the sun with the right optical lenses such as Prevencia  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j6SjECTn6g) have also been clinically proven to have a positive protective effect on your retina by reducing cell death too (by as much as 25% in a 40 year old).



At Visual Answers Optometrists we have invested in Optomap and OCT laser scanning technology that allows us to detect AMD at the earliest sub-retinal stages: even before it negatively effects your eye sight so that you can take the right advice to preserve your most precious sense now and for the future too.

Don’t turn and blind eye to a quick and painless examination and peace of mind that it brings. Make an appointment for your Advanced Diagnostic Eye Examination with your eye test today. Call Visual Answers on Barrow (01509) 416800