Philippine Nurse

What is AMD?

AMD is the most common form of illness masculí, the impact on the central part of the retina.

It is a time and usually develops after a person reaches 50 years.

Usually, both eyes, but it would not be affected by the same time or at the same level.

More than 90% of these cases are dry AMD, which can not be treated, but 10% are wet ADM.

Dry AMD means visual cells simply stopped working.

Wet AMD is by far the most aggressive of the disease.

The state is determined by the growth of new blood vessels in the center of the retina.

They can leak fluid, that the scar tissue to form and destroy central vision in two months and three years.

The peripheral vision remains. The State fails to reading, small objects and distorted vision.

What are the symptoms?

In the early stages of AMD, central and May blurred or distorted vision. Objects May be a little size or shape.

This process can develop quickly or over several months.

People with the disease can be very sensitive to light or see the lights that do not exist.

It May be few complaints, but in general, the state is not painful.

How is it treated AMD?

Photo dynamic therapy (PDT) is the first effective treatment to correct the wet AMD.

It is a relatively new treatment method for the first time in the United Kingdom in 1999 by doctors at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

PDT should be about one third of patients with wet AMD, it is only effective if the condition is that as soon as possible.

It is the injection of a light-sensitive dye called Visudyne in the body, in the lining of abnormal blood vessels in the retina. The process takes about half an hour.

In the light shone in the region through a contact lens, the activation of dyes and damage abnormal blood vessels.

From May treatment must be repeated every three months and cost £ 900.

Side effects include pain in the back, a response to light and a temporary loss of vision by about 3% of cases.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommended that the PDT is available on the NHS - but only for some patients.

Scientists are also working on new therapies, injection drug directly into the eyes.