One of the most common causes of loss or visual impairment in the elderly is macular degeneration of the retina.
Other names for this disease are macular degeneration , AMD ( age-related molecular degeneration), senile ( or senile) macular degeneration .
As a result of the disease, there is a violation of the central vision and damage to the retina of the eye. At the same time, the degree of vision loss can be different.
In severe cases, people can completely lose their central vision, and accordingly, they can not see directly in front of them. In other cases, vision may deteriorate slightly. In any case, full vision is not lost, as peripheral vision is not violated.
- 1. Forms and types of
- 2. Causes of
- 3. How does the disease manifest
- 4. Diagnosis
- 5. Treatment of
- disease 6. How to protect yourself from macular degeneration?
Forms and types of the disease
There are two forms of macular degeneration of the retina: dry and moist.
Dry
According to statistics, this species is more common than the second. In the presence of this form of macular degeneration, newly formed vessels behind the retina do not appear. It develops slowly, first affecting one eye, which passes unnoticed for the body, as a violation of one eye's eyesight is compensated by another.
With dry form, druses appear - yellow spots that appear under the retina. The disease develops in several stages:
- The early stage of , during which no visual impairment is observed, but several small and medium drusen appear.
- Intermediate stage leads to some problems with vision: a distorted perception in the center of the field of view. Requires additional light for reading. Several middle or large drusen appear behind the retina.
- The severe stage of causes severe visual impairment: a distorted spot in the center of the field of view becomes larger and darker. The photosensitive cells that support the retina are damaged. Reading without special tools is almost impossible.
Wet
This form is observed in 10% of patients. In this case, some wet macular degeneration develops from dry. In this case, behind the retina, new blood vessels appear in the macula zone, growing in the direction of the yellow spot, and hemorrhages occur.
Because of this, photosensitive cells( cones) are damaged and die, which leads to the appearance of spots in the center of the field of vision.
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Wet macular degeneration can be of several kinds:
- latent ( the appearance of new vessels is not noticeable, the central vision remains practically normal).
- classic ( new vessels provoke hemorrhages, scars develop, vision is severely impaired).
Causes of the onset of
The maculodystrophy develops due to vascular pathologies and malnutrition of the retina zone responsible for central vision. The exact causes of these processes are not established by scientists. Allocate only the risk factors that can lead to the development of the disease:
- age is one of the main factors in the development of the disease( in children, cases of the disease are very rare);
- heredity;
- sex( macular degeneration is more common in women);
- smoking;
- myopia;
- influence of ultraviolet;
- lack of vitamins, unbalanced nutrition;
- obesity;
- taking certain medications;
- stroke, hypertension, myocardial infarction and other cardiovascular diseases.
How the
is manifested During the early stages of the retina macular degeneration, the following symptoms appear:
- blurring( central fogging),
- distortion of objects( straight lines seem curved),
- difficulties in reading and recognizing faces.
Symptoms may appear quickly or for a long time. In some cases there is sensitivity to light. The disease does not cause painful sensations.
Sometimes, due to disturbances in central vision, patients experience hallucinations, but people are embarrassed to tell doctors about it. These hallucinations are caused only by distortion of vision and in no way refer to mental disorders.
Diagnosis
Complaints about the characteristic symptoms during a conversation with an ophthalmologist will point quite clearly to macular degeneration.
To clarify the diagnosis can apply:
- examination of the fundus with the help of ophthalmoscopy,
- study of fields of vision,
- fluorescent angiography( study of retinal vessels),
- test with Amsler grid.
The last method of diagnostics can be done independently, by making an Amsler lattice( a sheet in a 10 by 10 cm cell where a thick black dot is drawn in the middle).
Hang this drawing at arm's length on the wall, close one eye, and focus the other on the center point.
Next, you need to slowly bring your face closer to the pattern to a distance of about 15-20 cm. If you wear glasses, this test should be performed on them.
If some distortion of straight lines occurs or dark spots appear, you need to contact a specialist.
Treatment of disease
No effective treatment for macular degeneration, it is not possible to return normal central vision. But it is possible to stop or slow the growth of blood vessels behind the retina with wet macular degeneration.
For this, laser coagulation is performed, which helps to prevent bleeding in the newly formed vessels and to stop further deterioration of vision.
Also can use the method of laser drug activation. First, a certain drug is injected into the body, and then the laser is applied to the eye. At this short exposure to the eyes is not damaged, and the drug is activated, and its components damage newly formed pathological cells.
With dry macular degeneration, druses can be removed with laser therapy. But it will not be possible to restore the destroyed photosensitive cells.
Drugs for treatment of
Depending on the form of the disease: dry or wet macular degeneration, various therapies can be used in therapy.
For the treatment of wet retinal dystrophy, Lucentis is well established. Its active substance inhibits neovascularization and proliferation( proliferation) of blood vessels. It does not allow the growth of newly formed vessels of the choroid into the retina of the eye and stops the progression of the disease.
Lucentis is administered by injection only once a month in the vitreous. In one session, the drug is injected into only one eye. The therapy lasts for 3 months, after which it is necessary to regularly check the vision, and if the acuity deteriorates, then the injection of the drug should be resumed.
Drug administration requires completely aseptic conditions. Immediately after the session, it is necessary to monitor the patient's condition, since it is possible to increase intraocular pressure and some other side effects.
Results Achieved by Lucentis:
- normalization of retinal thickness;
- vision stabilization;
- improvement of visual acuity.
Another drug used to treat the same form of retinal dystrophy is Eilea. The drug is identical in its effect to Lucentis, and the procedure for doing the same is the same. Eilea is also used to treat vision impairment associated with diabetic retinopathy.
Both drugs are dispensed from pharmacies on prescription. The cost of drugs is comparable, it is about 50 thousand rubles. Injections are given only by a qualified physician with experience of intravitreal administration.
Folk remedies
Along with traditional treatment to reduce the negative consequences of macular degeneration of the retina, you can apply traditional medicine methods, having discussed them in advance with your doctor:
- Sprouts of wheat can be useful. You need to grind them in a meat grinder. In the shredded form it is necessary to store them in a cold place for no more than 4 days. Every morning, 14 tablespoons of wheat should be filled with water( for prevention it is 2 times less), and after eating it is eaten. To improve the taste, you can add jam or honey to it.
- The legumes of chickpeas are also useful. It can be added to a salad, made from it cutlets or cooked soup.
- An infusion mummy on aloe juice can help in restoring vision. It is necessary to dissolve 50 g of mummy in 10 g of aloe juice. The infusion should be stored in the refrigerator. You need to bury in your eyes twice a day, a drop of infusion of room temperature. Also it can be taken orally on an empty stomach in the morning and before bedtime in the evening.
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How to protect yourself from macular degeneration?
Since there is no cure for this disease, and to restore vision in retinal macular degeneration, it is completely impossible to prevent the appearance of the disease with the following measures:
- Do not smoke. Smoking is one of the factors in the appearance of macular degeneration.
- Protect eyes from sunlight , wear sunglasses and wide-brimmed hats.
- Proper nutrition. The diet should contain all the necessary vitamins and minerals. To prevent the disease is especially recommended to eat spinach, cabbage and other vegetables and fruits.
- I Do Sports. They strengthen the whole body, and vessels including.
- Regularly undergo scheduled examinations with an ophthalmologist. This will help to distinguish the disease at an early stage and prevent visual impairment.