This year’s big eye health news again comes from the National Health Service, which is a treasured institution one moment and a failing one the next.
On one hand, figures came out from the Macular Disease Society (MDS) showing the NHS is grossly underestimating the number of new AMD (Age Related Macular Degeneration) sufferers each year . While the NHS has been accounting for 26,000 cases of wet AMD per year, a new study commissioned by the MDS found it was nearly double, at 40,000. It was stressed that far more people should be regularly screened for early signs of the disease and benefiting from treatment where signs are found … before symptoms begin to appear.
Clearly, regular eye tests are necessary and an OCT(Ocular Coherence Tomography) scan performed to visualise the hidden layers of the retina where early signs of macular degeneration are first visible. In the early stages of macular degeneration, being informed of the correct diet, lifestyle and eye-targeting supplements may lead to less progression of eye disease and improved visual outcome. Treatment is available if the disease has become advanced and progressed to wet macular degeneration.
