Macular Degeneration Test
Macular Degeneration is one of the leading causes of blindness in Australia. Macular Degeneration is a disease affecting central vision and it’s an age related condition affecting people over the age of 50. When the central vision is lost it becomes almost impossible to recognize faces.
A positive diet and good lifestyle habits can help prevent Macular Degeneration. These lifestyle habits include not to smoke, weight control and regular exercise, balanced diet with low level of fats and more fish, vegetables and fruits and regular eye tests.
Macular Degeneration Symptoms
The only way to diagnose Macular Degeneration is to examine the retina. This must be undertaken by an optometrist or other eye care professional. If you have any of the following symptoms, you should seek help immediately from an eye care professional:
- Difficulty in reading
- Difficulty in doing activities which require fine vision
- Difficulty in distinguishing faces
- Distortion where straight lines appear wavy or bent
- Dark patches or empty spaces appearing in the centre of your vision
If you also notice that you need more illumination, are sensitive to glare, have a decreased night vision and poor colour sensitivity, you should consider that something may be wrong and book an appointment with an optometrist ASAP.
Early detection of Macular Degeneration is important because allow you to take steos to slow down the progression of the disease.
Macular Degeneration may go unnoticed because can cause different symptoms considered as part of just ‘getting older’.
Remember that just an eye test with an optometrist can diagnose Macular Degeneration.