Рет қаралды 20,830
and we are going to talk specifically about a degenerative disease that usually affects people over 50 years of age. And it is considered the main cause of loss of central vision and blindness. Its acronym is DMAE and it means Macular Degeneration Associated with Age.
This eye disease affects the central area of the retina called the macula. The retina contains neurons that transform images into electrical currents and are sent to the brain. And therefore, she is responsible for activities such as reading, driving or watching TV.
The macula is the area of the retina that specializes in fine vision, being responsible for giving a clear and clear vision. Therefore, any alteration in this area could put at risk the loss of vision of the patient.
DMAE is a degenerative disease of the macula, which causes a progressive wear of the cells and the epithelium of the retina.
The causes of AMD are not known, although it is known that age is the main risk factor. Although there may be others such as genetics, hypertension, obesity and sedentary lifestyle, side effects of some drugs (antimalarial or anti-psychotic) and smoking.
On the other hand, there are two types of DMAE that you should know:
Dry DMAE: This is the one developed by 80% of patients and is characterized by atrophy of the macular area. It develops very slowly.
Wet AMD: This has a faster evolution and worse prognosis, since new blood vessels appear under the retina, causing hemorrhages and fluids. It usually appears in people who have already had a dry macular degeneration.
Symptoms of AMD
The disease begins appearing in one eye, but may end up affecting both. Therefore, many times the patient does not realize the problem unless the healthy eye is covered.
Therefore, the main symptoms of this eye disease are:
View of distorted lines.
Blurry vision.
Shadows and spots in the central vision.
Decreased brightness and intensity of colors.
Difficulties when reading, watching TV, driving or recognizing the faces of people.
Hallucinations with geometric shapes, animals or people (when the disease is advanced).
Treatment
AMD is a disease that can not be prevented, since it goes hand in hand with aging. Therefore, it is recommended to follow a healthy diet and go to the ophthalmologist periodically after 50 years.
As for the treatments that exist, dry AMD uses vitamin supplements (antioxidants and zinc) that help to slow the progression of the disease to more advanced stages.
For wet AMD, which is more complex, drugs that are injected directly into the eye are used. If it is diagnosed in an initial stage, with this treatment you can reduce the discomfort and recover part of the lost vision.
Currently, 70% of the people who are treated do not lose sight (after one year of treatment) and around 40% reach a vision above 0.5, so they could carry out activities that previously It was difficult to develop normally as read or drive.
There are also other very effective treatments like these:
Photodynamic therapy, where a medication is injected into the patient's arm, applying a cold laser.
Thermal laser therapy.
We recommend that starting at age 50, you start doing periodic tests of visual acuity and the Amsler grid. This is a grid of lines that serves to monitor the visual field of each person. In the case of seeing crooked lines, this could point to this disease.
I work here www.vitaoptica.com
Do you want to collaborate with the channel? Find out here goo.gl/T6wWKP
Do not forget to subscribe to my social networks
FACEBOOK: goo.gl/59Ci4e
TWITTER: goo.gl/6pLb9w
INSTAGRAM: goo.gl/bhQJcH
Thank you!!
"Music: www.bensound.com"