PREVENTABLE BLINDNESS
In senile macular degeneration (SMD), new blood vessels grow over the retina (the light-sensing layer in the back of the eye), distorting it so that it no longer functions properly. Although SMD accounts for nearly all new cases of blindness in people over 65, its cause remains unknown.
Nevertheless, physicians working at the National Eye Institute have made an exciting announcement. A brief session in the doctor’s office with about 10 minutes of laser beam treatment usually stops the blood vessel proliferation and restores normal vision in over 80 percent of cases. Most of the remainder benefit, too, but partially. Many people need this treatment repeatedly.
The researchers announcing this advance in Archives of Ophthalmology (100:911) make it clear that, to benefit, SMD patients must obtain laser treatment soon after the onset of symptoms. If they wait too long, irreversible damage will already have been done. To catch SMD recurrences early enough, the researchers urge, all victims should test their own vision daily with an Amsler grid (which they can get from an ophthalmologist), and report changes right away.
*54\143\2*
