AMD – characteristics / risk factors / symptoms / diagnosis

AMD – age-related macular degeneration, is a serious eye disease, mainly affecting people over 50 years of age. We can confidently call AMD a civilization disease of the 21st century. Currently, it is estimated that in the societies of developed countries, up to 20% of the population will lose their sight after the age of 65 due to AMD. Unfortunately, this is irreversible blindness (as opposed to, for example, cataracts, which can be removed by surgery).

This is a very serious problem these days, but what do we really know about AMD?

Risk factors:

Age – the risk of developing the disease increases after the age of 50;

Origin – Caucasians are more likely to get sick;

Smoking – smokers are 4 to 6 times more likely to develop AMD than non-smokers;

cardiovascular disease;

Hypertension;

Obesity;

Diet low in omega-3 fatty acids and high in saturated fatty acids.

Symptoms

The basic symptom is a decrease in visual acuity or other changes in the perception of reality, mainly in central vision. Most often, the first symptom is the occurrence of curving straight lines or letters when reading, then there is a loss of central vision, the so-called central scotoma (dark spot in the center of the visual field). Symptoms may appear gradually, with varying severity, in one or both eyes (although they are often very asymmetrical).

How is AMD diagnosed?

The basis is regular visits to an ophthalmologist or optometrist after reaching the age of 50. In the office, the specialist will perform a visual acuity test, eye fundus assessment and macular OCT, the introduction of which was a breakthrough in the diagnosis of AMD – in addition to detecting abnormalities, it allows you to determine the form of the disease. In the Focus Optical Salon, the eye fundus photo is a standard feature of every visit to the optometrist, if there are disturbing symptoms, the Patient is referred for further thorough diagnostics to an ophthalmologist.

Currently, there is no single, effective method of preventing AMD, because the cause of the disease has not been clearly identified. The basis of prevention is smoking cessation, a diet rich in carotenes and antioxidants (the so-called „colorful diet”), omega 3 and zinc. Getting sick is not automatically equivalent to a significant limitation of life activities – often the disease can have a slow course over the years. Diagnosis and early diagnosis of the disease is very important.

If you have noticed disturbing symptoms or there are people over 50 in your environment and they have not visited eye protection specialists for a long time, we encourage you to make an appointment at our salons!