MANILA, Philippines – Author and Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing describes the travails that come with aging quite accurately. “Your body changes, but you don’t change at all. And that, of course, causes great confusion.”
Although breakthroughs in medicine and the wide acceptance of cosmetic procedures have allowed people to look younger, the physical transformations that erase the evident ravages of the years may not be enough. Failing eyesight is one of the most common complaints that come with aging, and visual impairment continues to be a contributing factor that limits the lifestyle choices of the elderly.
Deteriorating sight that comes with age hinders movement and independence. Apart from making activities such as operating a motor vehicle more difficult and dangerous for senior citizens, impaired eyesight may impinge on activities such as reading. Consequently, learning and memory may also be affected. And not surprisingly, degenerating eyesight can indeed make senior citizens “feel old.”
One of the causes of impaired eyesight and blindness in the elderly is AMD. “Age-related macular degeneration or AMD is a condition where the central part of the eye’s retina (called the macula) develops lesions,” explains eye specialist Dr. Manolette Roque. “As an individual grows older, he becomes a stronger candidate for the disease.”
AMD gradually destroys sharp central vision, and is differentiated into two types: wet and dry. Wet AMD results when abnormal blood vessels behind the retina grow and leak blood and fluid, thereby displacing the macula from its normal position and damaging it while dry AMD occurs when light sensitive cells in the macula slowly break down. The disease causes no pain, and thus it can happen that the condition is ignored until it progresses to blindness.
As president and CEO of the Eye Republic Ophthalmology Clinic, Dr. Roque is committed to providing high standards of eye care, as well as increasing consciousness about eye ailments including AMD. “We feel that to be able to establish a meaningful practice of medicine, you need to teach everyone who enters your door about how they can prevent disease,” he says. “As more and more practices all over the country begin to do this, it turns into an individual effort that becomes strong enough to effect collective change.”
The advocacy to spread information about the eye is likewise encouraged through Eye Republic’s website. Through the site, patients, their relatives, and other eye care professionals can easily access information and learn about specific eye conditions. The goals, says Dr. Roque, are “to support both peer-to-peer and professional-to-professional interaction, and help increase the public’s consciousness about preventable eye disease.
What are the factors that increase the risk or hasten the occurrence of AMD? Apart from advancing age, smoking has been positively linked to the disease. Ultraviolet light radiation results in higher incidences of AMD in tropical countries, and genetic predisposition and family history are key factors. A United States National Institutes of Health study shows that Caucasians are more prone to the disease, and women experience a higher risk. In addition, obesity can be a contributory factor. “Obesity and high cholesterol levels by themselves pose great risk to the body,” explains Dr. Roque. These conditions predispose an individual to such ailments as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and possibly AMD.
Lifestyle choices may prevent or delay the onset of AMD. Avoiding smoking, watching your weight, maintaining normal blood pressure, adequate exercise, and healthy diet lessen the risk factors. In addition, wearing protective sunglasses that shield the eyes from ultraviolet light is a good habit to adopt early.
However, the greatest risk factor is aging. It is inevitable and despite all precautions, AMD can occur as one progresses in years. Fortunately, new drug preparations are available to help maintain and improve the vision of AMD patients, allowing them to enjoy a better quality of life. “The treatments can improve eyesight by two or three lines in the Snellen chart,” says Dr. Roque, referring to the eye chart used by ophthalmologists to measure visual acuity. Although there is no way of reversing eyesight to that of teenage years, treatments can prevent or retard AMD-related blindness. Apart from regular checkups with your eye doctor after age 50, symptoms of AMD, such as distorted vision, should not be ignored. After all, wet AMD could make you lose your sight in only one year.
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Ask about the 0% BPI installment plan for AMD treatments at Eye Republic. For more details, visit any of the Eye Republic Ophthalmology branches at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center, The Medical City, St. Luke’s Medical Center, and at Don Santiago Building (in front of Philippine General Hospital). Or log on to www.EyeRepublic.com.ph. E-mail Dr. Manolette Roque at manolette. roque@EyeRepublic.com.ph. Or call 0917817 2020.