104 | April• 2018
LONG-TERM VISION
“Ifyouthinkofadarkspotwher-
ever you look, that’s almost ex-
actlywhatmyvisionislike,”says
Schmitz-Moormann, now 79. “It
tookmonths,ifnotyears,formeto
allow the idea that this eye disorder
waspartofmylife.”
AMDisoneofthreecommoncon-
ditionsafectingtheretina,thearea
at the back of the eye that the lens
projectsimagesonto.Toseethose
images,yourretinamustsendde-
tailstotheopticnervesothatyour
brain can process the scene. If the
retinabecomesdamaged,partor
allofyourvisioncanbewipedaway,
sometimes permanently.
Millions of older adults have reti-
nal conditions. While they’re often
caused by ageing or associated dis-
eases,manyofusalsoneglectour
eye health.
“Aspeoplegetolder,theyhave
anexpectationthattherewillbea
decline in their vision,” says Dr Da-
vid Garway-Heath, an ophthalmol-
ogy professor at University College
London, “so they don’t necessarily
seek out routine care to detect eye
disease.”
Skipping check-ups can have
dire consequences – retinal prob-
lems progress silently, surrepti-
tiouslyrobbingyouofsightwhen
interventions might have helped.
“Peoplewiththeseconditionsmay
have no complaints,” says oph-
thalmology professor Dr Sehnaz
Karadeniz. “Therefore, regular eye
examinations are mandatory to save
the sight.”AGE-RELATED MACULAR
DEGENERATIONAMD is one of leading causes of blind-
ness in adults over the age of 50 in
South East Asia, as it is for the world
as a whole. Changes within the eye
damage the centre of the retina, im-
pacting vision. Early on, straight lines
look distorted. Later, dark spots block
what you’re viewing.
“he centre of the retina gives you
the most quality of life,” says Dr Hans-
jürgen Agostini, retinal specialist at
the Eye Center of the University of
Freiburg in Germany.“That’s where
you read, where you recognise faces.”
There are two forms of AMD: wet
and dry. About 80 per cent of afected
people have dry AMD, caused by ret-
inal thinning due to ageing. There’s
currently no treatment, although there
is ongoing research. “An early study
showed that in a speciic genetically
deined group, which is about half the
population, you can slow the progres-
sion of the disease by a monthly injec-
tion, but these indings will have to be
conirmed by late-stage trials,” he says.
Only 20 per cent of people have
wet AMD, but it causes significant
vision loss – abnormal blood vessels
grow behind the retina, leaking blood,
scarring and damageing the retina.
Intra-ocular injections can stop the ALL PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK