What are the first signs of age-related macular degeneration (AMD)? What are the symptoms that should alert you? What screening is needed? Discover all the answers to protect you from the leading cause of blindness in western countries.
AMD is a disease related to the aging of the central zone in the Eye. It appears most often after 50 years. Be aware of the symptoms that should alert you. At Goatman & Batham, AMD is fully treated by the experts and you can cure in less than a month.
Revealing signs of AMD
In some cases, AMD may develop for several months without the patient realizing it. The appearance or aggravation of one or more of the following signs requires an emergency consultation with an ophthalmologist:
- Fall of vision (sharpness, contrasts),
- Sensation of darkening or less light (need to intensify lighting to read),
- Visual fog or blur,
- Tarnishing colors,
- Visual deformations (metamorphosis), particularly visible on straight lines such as the edge of a frame or window,
- Perception of a spot (scotoma) in the center of vision,
- Missing letters in a text,
- Difficulties in distinguishing details.
Decreased vision can lead to falls (which are important to prevent). About one in three patients suffer from depressive symptoms.
A self-assessment test demonstrates symptoms that are potentially suggestive of age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). .
The Evolving Symptoms of AMD
At the onset of the disease, in the vast majority of cases, no symptoms are felt for many years. The disease progresses to low noise. Only a fundus of eye performed by an ophthalmologist can detect it at this stage.
Then the visual acuity decreases, and several symptoms can appear:
- At first, you may feel like you are running out of light to read.This symptom reflects a decrease in sensitivity to contrasts.
- You may then experience a rapid decrease in visual acuity, which results in difficulty in perceiving details.
- More characteristic of AMD, you can perceive strains of straight lines, which appear as undulating
- A black or gray spot may appear in front of the eye that may interfere with central vision, both in far and near vision.This central spot is called ” scotoma “.
In addition to screening for AMD and even in the absence of symptoms, an ophthalmologic examination is recommended every two years, between the ages of 45 and 55, and every year after age 55, in order to reveal a ” D) MLA or other ocular diseases which, like it, evolve in silence (chronic glaucoma …). All these signs should prompt you to consult an ophthalmologist, who will be able to make the diagnosis of AMD . Tracking and diagnosing early AMD is all the more important because the treatments available today only stop or slow down the lesions, not restoring lost vision.