TREATMENT OF MACULAR DEGENERATION
ARMD
Inside the retina, close to its center, is the macula, which allows you to see the small details clearly. If this does not work properly, the patient’s central vision begins to cloud and darken.
WHAT IS MACULAR DEGENERATION OR ARMD?
Age-associated macular degeneration is a disease that affects people over 50 years of age and causes deterioration of the macula, affecting the patient’s central vision at both near and distant distances. This makes daily activities such as driving, reading or watching television difficult to perform.
TYPES OF MACULAR DEGENERATION
Dry or atrophic
It constitutes the majority of cases of this disease, between 85-90% of cases of ARMD.
Its evolution and therefore the loss of visual acuity, is slower than in the case of wet or exudative ARMD, which causes the patient to think that their central vision is good.
An example of this would be with reading:
- The patient can differentiate each letter independently, but can not string words together and therefore can not read.
Wet or exudative
This type of AMD is less common, affecting 15% of cases, but its evolution over time is faster.
In this type of macular degeneration, it is essential to treat it immediately in order to stop the loss of irreversible central vision.
The wet AMD produces haemorrhages in the macula, these haemorrhages are caused by small abnormal blood vessels that invade it.
CAUSES AND RISK FACTORS
- Old age
- Tobacco
- Genetics
- Family background
- Hypertension
- High blood cholesterol level
SYMPTOMS OF MACULAR DEGENERATION
- Painless disease
- It is possible that the patient is not aware of this visual problem since the disease usually manifests itself in one eye first, although it ends up affecting both
- Progressive loss of central vision.
- Straight lines begin to look wavy.
- Increased sensitivity to light.
- Need more light when reading.
- Blurred central vision.
- Alteration when measuring or estimating heights and distances.
- In advanced stages of the disease, black spots can be seen in the centre of vision.
DIAGNOSIS OF ARMD
To diagnose this ocular pathology it is necessary to do a complete ocular examination annually, consisting of the following steps:
- Visual acuity test.
- Retinography.
- Fluorescein angiography to see the fundus.
- Optical coherence tomography. The macula scanner to see the presence of alterations in its anatomy, such as fluid retention, loss of foveal profile, epiretinal membranes…
TREATMENT OF MACULAR DEGENERATION
The treatment of macular degeneration will depend on the type that the patient has, then you can decide on the different types of treatments:
Dry or atrophic ARMD treatment
Until now, there is no treatment for the macula of the eye that has been scientifically proven to be effective.
These cases must be treated with very exhaustive treatments, in which the use of antioxidants and vitamin supplements are solutions to slow down the progression of the disease, in addition to the use of glasses with yellow filters and some visual aids for low vision.
Wet or exudative ARMD treatment
With this type of ARMD, more scientific advances have been achieved.
- Laser treatment.
- Intravitreal injections of anti-angiogenic drugs. This drug blocks those molecules that cause the development of subretinal neovascular membranes. It is an ambulatory intervention, with topical and painless anaesthesia.
Do not hesitate to contact our medical team and we will assess your case.
