AMD
ARMD:
What is ARMD?
AGE RELATED MACULAR DEGENARATION IS A disease that affects the macula in elderly persons. It is a fairly common condition and is a leading cause for irreversible vision loss in developed nations.
There are two types, dry AMD and wet AMD.
Can it affect me?
It can affect anyone, after the age of 60years.
It is equally common in men and women.
Potential risk factrs are systemic disesases like hypertension and diabetes; as well as high myopes.
What are the symptoms?
Well, essentially you will experience a drop in vision or a fixed black spot in the central visual field.
You may see someones face such that you cant see the nose clearly but can see the ears well, and similarly for other objects in your visual field.
There is sometimes a sudden appearance of a large black spot or a blindspot that can be quite intimidating for the patients.
Often , prior to this happening, you may complain of seeing wavy or distorted images instead of clear ones with sharp lines.
How do I know I have ARMD?
If have these symptoms you must visit an eye specialist right away. You will be tested on an amslers grid as a screening procedure.
You will also undergo a dilated retinal evaluation and may need specific tests like a macular OCT.
Whats the PROGNOSIS?
The outcome is quite variable. Rarely does the condition improve. Stalling the progression of disease is the goal of treatment here.
With newer treatment options the success rates are fairly high.
Dry type, unfortunately, cannot be treated . it is best managed by providing special glasses as low visual aids.
The wet type can be treated with intravitreal injections.
These injections halt the progression of disease by preventing new vessel formation and reducing the cnvm- choroidal neovascular membranes. These injections need to be repeated at monthly intervals till the desired effect is achieved. The results are judged with serial OCT scans done at monthly visits.
Alternately, lasers and surgery are done in severe and non responsive cases.