My friend has macular eye disease...does this mean that she could?

Question

lose her sight eventually. Can anything be done to prevent this disease?

Answer 1

Well, there are 2 types of age-related macular degeneration (AMD): wet AMD and dry AMD. The dry type is the most common, caused by basially 'wear and tear' of the macular, the central part of th retina.The symptoms are a slow worsening of the vision, over many years, never resulting in total blindness. The wet type is the nasty one, it is caused by bleeding under the macular, which causes sudden, total an permenant loss of central vision. Most people who get the wet type generally started off with the dry type, but few few people with dry AMD actually go on the have a bleed.

Worst case senario, even if she gets the wet type in both eyes, she will only ever loose he central vision, ie. whatever she is looking diectly at will be obscured. Obviously this can be quite devestating as is means reading, writing, seeing faces etc becomes very difficult, but the peripheral vision is unaffected sp people with wet AMD can still get around ok.

In fact, most people over te age of 60 will have some macular wear and tear. Her optician really should have explained all this to her. Tell her not to worry about it, there is nothing the can be done and it is unlikely to ever cause her major problems.

Eating lots of dark green leafy veg like cabbage and greens is good for your macula, and if she smokes she should stop immediately, as this is one of the major risk factors for both wet and dry AMD.

Hope this helps

Answer 2

The macular records the central area of what we see and if it is destroyed central vision - not total vision - is lost. The cause is not clearly understood and there is more than 1 type. There is treatment with 1 (a vitreous injection) only recently approved. In addition - there are a variety of peripheral vision devices which allow most people with macular degeneration to continue to be able to read, use a computer, and watch TV. It is not possible to predict the course - some get worse - others do not.

Answer 3

If you mean macular degeneration, there is no cure yet. Yes, she could lose her sight eventually. However, there are new medications on the market now that seem promising for slowing the progress of the disease.

Answer 4

It is possible that she could, but not likely if she has good follow-up with a retina or macula specialist. When you say macular eye disease, do you mean macular degeneration? If so, there are two kinds - wet and dry. Dry macular degeneration is easier to treat, but wet macular degeneration can be treated with injections such as Avastin or Lucentis and laser treatment. I'm sure that your friend has been told of these options, but if not, she should seek out a good retina/macula specialist and get an appointment to check her status.

Answer 5

found this for you to look at, hope its what you needed to know
http://www.wcb-ccd.org.uk/English/Reports/macular_disease_info.htm