How to determine low vision. When an eye patient is diagnosed with low vision , it can mean several things. However, many older patients face low vision due to the diagnosis of age related macular degeneration. Why does macular degeneration cause low vision, and what types of low vision devices are available to help those who suffer from the effects of this type of poor eyesight?
Macular refers to the portion of the retina called the macula. The macula is found in the central inner lining of the retina. This is the part of the eye where detail vision resides. Tasks such as reading, knitting, or any type of close detail work require this vital portion of the central visual range. When the macula suffers damage through bleeding, a thinning of the tissue, or even a wasting away of the tissue, macular degeneration is the name for this visual problem. When the macula is damaged, a loss of the central vision can occur. Patients can find themselves at different points on a spectrum of visual loss, from very slight all the way to complete blindness, and many points in between. Low vision is often the result of age related macular degeneration.
People most at risk for developing macular degeneration symptoms are the elderly, and those with a family history of the problem. Others have a gene that makes them at a greater risk for developing macular degeneration and its resultant low vision. It has also been found that those who have high cholesterol, are obese or have high blood pressure are also at a higher risk of developing age related macular degeneration. If you have blurred vision, or parts of your field of vision are missing, you will want to check in with your ophthalmologist in order to receive a thorough eye examination.
Although eating foods containing beta-carotene and various vitamins such as lutein and zeaxanthin can help lessen the risk of developing some of the more severe forms of age related macular degeneration, there are no cures for this visual problem. However, new drugs have been recently used to combat the low vision associated with this macular problem, and thus far have provided hopeful treatment results.
If you have low vision due to these types of changes in your macula, you will want to maximize your remaining vision so that you can use it to its fullest potential. There are different devices available that can magnify what you are trying to look at, making it easier to see. If you wish to read, you might choose glasses with a special telescopic lens attached. In this way, the tiny telescopes provide powerful magnification when you need it, yet you can also look through your regular prescription eye glass lens whenever you wish, thus changing your vision much as wearing a pair of bifocal glasses can do.
There are some great technological advances that provide a boon to those requiring visual magnification, and these tools can be of particular help to those with macular degeneration symptoms.
Susan Slobac has had a parent diagnosed with macular degeneration. She has had experience in macular degeneration treatment. In this article, she discusses macular degeneration risk factors.
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