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| Macular Degeneration, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention, Complications |
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or macular degeneration is a visual impairment that occurs in the elderly (elderly). The elderly who are stricken with this disease will feel blurry vision, which starts from the middle of the vision.
Macular degeneration is more common in women than men. People with this condition will have trouble reading, driving, writing, or recognizing someone's face.
Causes of Macular Degeneration
The cause of macular degeneration is not known with certainty, but it is thought to involve several factors, such as genetics and environment.
Almost all patients with macular degeneration are over 60 years old. In addition to age, a number of other factors that put a person at risk for macular degeneration are:
- Smoking habit
- Obesity
- Hypertension
- Family history of macular degeneration
- Frequent exposure to the sun
Symptoms of Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration is a progressive disease whose condition can worsen over time. The main symptom of macular degeneration is a decrease in the patient's visual ability, especially the center of the visual field.
This decrease in the ability of vision is usually marked by the appearance of lines in the vision so that vision becomes blurry. As a result, people with macular degeneration will find it difficult to recognize a person's face. Patients will also find it difficult to see in a room or place with dim light.
Early symptoms of macular degeneration will develop slowly, then become severe within 5-10 years. As macular degeneration progresses, sufferers can experience two different types of symptoms, namely wet or dry macular degeneration symptoms.
This occurs due to differences in damage to the macula (yellow spot) of the eye. Visual impairment in wet macular degeneration develops faster than dry macular degeneration.
When to go to the doctor
Immediately see a doctor if you experience problems with vision, such as blurred vision or feel something is different when you see colors. Macular degeneration can be asymptomatic at first, especially if it only occurs in one eye. Therefore, it is important to have regular eye examinations to the eye doctor.
Macular degeneration occurs in people over 50 years of age. Therefore, for those aged over 50 years, immediately visit a doctor if you experience the slightest visual disturbance.
Regular eye examinations to the ophthalmologist need to be carried out even though there are no complaints in the eyes and vision. Examination is recommended every 2 years for people under the age of 40 years and once every 1-2 years for people aged 40 years and over.
Macular Degeneration Diagnosis
As previously mentioned, the early symptoms of macular degeneration are often not felt by sufferers. As a result, a person often only realizes he has this disease when undergoing an eye examination.
If a patient is suspected of having macular degeneration, the doctor will perform an Amsler line test. In this test, the patient is asked to look at several pictures that have vertical or horizontal lines.
If the examination reveals abnormalities, the doctor will perform a further examination of the back of the eye, namely ophthalmoscopy.
The doctor will also take pictures of the back of the eye to see changes in the macula, with the following examinations:
- Optical coherence tomography
- Optical coherence tomography is performed by using a special light to see macular disorders in more detail.
- Fluorescein angiography
- This test is done by injecting a special dye into the blood vessels, to look for leaks in the eye blood vessels.
Macular Degeneration Treatment
Treatment of macular degeneration aims to maximize the quality of vision, as well as to prevent macular degeneration from getting worse.
In patients with early-stage macular degeneration, treatment is not required. However, patients will be advised to undergo regular eye examinations every year.
To slow down the damage, the patient will be advised to:
- Quit smoking
- Exercise regularly
- Maintain ideal body weight
- Eat foods that contain antioxidants, such as spinach, broccoli, and beans
- Eat foods that contain lots of zinc, such as beef, milk, cheese, yogurt, and whole wheat bread
- Taking supplements containing zinc, vitamin E, and vitamin C
If macular degeneration has entered an advanced stage, depending on whether it is wet or dry, the doctor may suggest several treatment methods, such as:
- Artificial lens mount to make the image clearer and bigger in certain areas
- Inject anti-VEGF (antivascular endothelial growth factor) drugs directly into the eyeball, to help improve vision and prevent blurry vision.
- Laser therapy, to prevent the patient from losing sight
If this visual disturbance does not improve, the patient will be advised to undergo visual rehabilitation. The goal of rehabilitation is to help the patient adapt to changes in his vision.
There are several efforts that can be done by people with macular degeneration to adjust to the vision changes they experience, including:
- Using a magnifying glass
- Buy books with larger letters or numbers
- Changing the display of electronic device screens to be brighter with larger letters
- Using the voice system assistance (if any) on every electronic device used, for example a computer
- Replace the lamp with a brighter one
- Asking a family member to help drive
Complications of Macular Degeneration
Blindness is the most feared complication of macular degeneration. A person who cannot see is at risk of being isolated from the social environment and thus suffering from depression. Blindness due to macular degeneration can also cause sufferers to experience visual hallucinations (Charles-Bonnet syndrome).
Although it can cause vision loss, people with macular degeneration do not lose vision completely. This is because macular degeneration does not affect peripheral vision.
Prevention of Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration can be prevented by doing the following:
- Quit smoking
- Using glasses with special lenses, to protect the eyes from sun exposure
- Undergo regular eye exams to detect eye disorders early
- Increase consumption of foods that contain antioxidants, such as fruits and vegetables
- Increase consumption of foods that contain vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, and copper
Also, talk to your doctor about using lutein supplements to prevent macular degeneration, especially if you have risk factors for this disease.
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