With the benefit of early diagnosis and treatment,
seniors can manage their risk of vision loss from Age Related Macular
Degeneration (AMD) and protect their sight and lifestyle. The key is early detection and diagnosis by having regular eye exams as
recommended by your eye doctor. Age Related Macular
Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible vision impairment in
older adults in the United States, yet little is known about whether AMD is
appropriately diagnosed in primary eye care. Many seniors visit their primary care physicians for
various health issues and then assume that everything is fine when the primary
care physician looks into their eyes with the bright light and doesn’t remark
or comment about any problems. Unfortunately, results of a recent study
published in JAMA
Ophthalmology suggest that a
large number of cases of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) are going
undetected and undiagnosed even with the observation of primary care
physicians. According to the study, by examining patients and comparing the eye exams to
their primary care health records, 320 of 1288 eyes had AMD
despite no diagnosis of AMD in the primary eye care medical record! This study strongly indicates that under
diagnosis of AMD can easily occur. If early AMD treatment is to be useful,
seniors need to be sure to have regular dilated eye exams to help us help you
avoid central vision loss.
If you or someone you know has a family history of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and is over 50 years of age or is a senior who has not had regular eye exams, please schedule and eye exam to help us help you avoid vision loss. Please call Alabama Eye & Cataract Center in Birmingham at 205-930-0930, visit Alabama Eye & Cataract Center, Google+ or www.facebook.com/alabamaeyeandcataractcenter.
