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Here’s what maculopathy is and what you can do about it

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Maculopathy, or macular degeneration, is a disease of the macula, the back of the retina. It is the macula that controls the ability to read. See fine details in objects, and recognize faces and colors. Usually, both eyes are affected by maculopathy. Which is a progressive disease that results in loss of central vision.

In Italy alone, 20,000 people suffer from age-related degenerative macular degeneration, every year. Maculopathy is a chronic eye disease that is becoming increasingly prevalent in the elderly.

In addition, Maculopathy doesn’t cause total blindness. But it can cause loss of central vision. The combination of central vision and peripheral vision helps people. To understand what they are looking at and where it is. When reading, central vision allows people to see details like individual words. While peripheral vision leads them to the next.

MACULOPATHY: WHAT IS IT?

A maculopathy, or macular degeneration, is a group of degenerative diseases. In addition that gradually damages the macula, the retina’s central portion. In this portion of the retina, millions of cells are responsible for receiving. And processing visual information, making it the most ‘noble’ part of the retina.

In addition Despite severe cases, macular degeneration does not cause total blindness. Because peripheral and lateral vision is preserved.

The testing process

A dilated eye exam is the most common eye exam. Drops will be used to dilate the pupil and examine the retina for signs of disease. However, the doctor may use other tests to diagnose macular degeneration. Below is a list of some of these tests.

Fluorescence in autofluorescence

A special blue light causes certain eye parts to glow without dye. This technique can be used to check the health of the retina.

Photographing the fundus

In addition after dilating the pupil, the doctor shines a bright light into the eye. An optician uses a special camera to take pictures of the back of the eye to look for diseases of the macula, retina, and optic nerve.

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

OCT is a non-invasive method of imaging the retina. Using this method, the doctor can measure the thickness of the retina. A thick retina could lead to a diagnosis of dry AMD.

MACULOPATHY SYMPTOMS

The onset of maculopathy is not always obvious, especially when only one eye is affected. In reality, macular degeneration does not cause pain. The initial symptoms are blurry. And distorted images in the center of the visual field. But with the progression of the disease, central vision is lost entirely.

In addition the perception of colors may also be altered, appearing faded, unclear, or imprecise. As well as a decreased sensitivity to contrast.

Reading requires more light in the presence of maculopathy than in the past. And individual letters of a word may be missing.

MACULOPATHY RISK FACTORS

Risk factors include age, genetic predisposition, hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular diseases. And excessive sun exposure without protection. However, high cholesterol and high blood sugar can also play a role.

In general, maculopathy of the eye should be prevented by

  1. Do not smoke cigarettes.
  2. Consume foods rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids
  3. Regular exercise is essential;

MACULOPATHY FOOD SUPPLEMENTS

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