Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), also known as age-related macular degeneration, is a blinding degenerative eye disease whose incidence correlates positively with advancing age and leads to loss of central vision, which is necessary for everyday activities such as reading, driving, telling time and recognizing facial features. AMD is one of the leading causes of severe vision loss in people aged 50 years and older, and is one of the It is one of the leading diseases that cause blindness in adults worldwide. AMD sometimes develops slowly enough that you don’t notice changes in your vision, but sometimes it progresses rapidly, causing a dramatic loss of central vision. It usually develops first in one eye and is often overlooked at first, but it is very common for both eyes to develop in sequence. Patients with AMD in one eye have a 40% chance of developing AMD in the other eye within 5 years.
(a) Types of AMD: dry and wet dry AMD: dry accounts for 80%-85% of all AMD, which can be seen as vitreous warts in the fundus of the eye and can also gradually cause thinning of the macula, thus affecting the function to some extent. The most common symptom is mild blurred vision. Dry AMD usually progresses slowly, but may develop into a more severe type, known as wet AMD.
Wet AMD: Wet accounts for 15-20% of patients with AMD and mostly causes severe visual impairment. Its visual damage is mainly caused by the growth of abnormal neovascularization in the subretina of the macula, called choroidal neovascularization (CNV), which can cause retinal hemorrhage, edema and destruction of retinal tissue, eventually leading to scar formation and thus vision loss. Compared to dry AMD, wet AMD progresses more rapidly and can lead to more severe central vision loss. However, if treated promptly, the vision loss caused by wet AMD can be reduced or delayed.
(ii) Photodynamic therapy (PDT) for AMD: A specific photosensitizer is injected into the patient’s bloodstream, and when the drug circulates to the retina, the low-energy laser irradiation is used to excite the photosensitizer, causing it to react in the abnormal neovascularization, thereby destroying the abnormal neovascularization. Because the concentration of the photosensitizer in normal retinal tissue is much smaller than that of the abnormal neovascularization, the low-energy laser irradiation does not damage the normal retinal tissue. Therefore PDT is used to treat CNV in age-related macular degeneration, especially subcentral recess CNV. this therapy is currently a convenient, safe and effective method internationally.
In April 2005, our ophthalmology department was the first to carry out photodynamic therapy (PDT) for age-related macular degeneration and other choroidal neovascular diseases in the northeastern provinces, and established the northeastern region macular disease laser treatment center and the northeastern provinces photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment center. At present, our ophthalmology department has treated more than 100 patients with wet age-related macular degeneration with photodynamic therapy, and the number of treated cases is the highest in Northeast China, higher than the total number of other hospitals in Liaoning Province. The majority of patients have stable visual acuity and control after surgery, and 30% of them have improved their visual acuity to varying degrees. Therefore, there are many patients who come to our hospital for photodynamic therapy treatment.
(3) Prevention of AMD a. Who are vulnerable to the attack of age-related macular degeneration?
1.People who are over 40 years old, the older the age, the higher the risk of the disease.
2.People who have this disease in their family.
3.People with high blood pressure and high blood fat.
4.People with unbalanced diet. High-fat diet is positively associated with this disease, while high antioxidant food is negatively associated with this disease.
5, obese people. The macular carotene content will be reduced in overweight people.
6.People who work outdoors for a long time.
7, smokers have 2 times higher risk of this disease than non-smokers.
8.Sub-healthy people.
Second, how to prevent the occurrence of age-related macular degeneration?
1.Eat a balanced diet and eat more fruits and vegetables, especially spinach and kale and other green vegetables.
2, drink more water. Drink 8 glasses of water a day to promote the discharge of waste.
3, avoid direct exposure to bright light, can wear UV protection sunglasses.
4, exercise regularly to enhance resistance.
5, do not smoke.
6.Regular eye examinations.
7.Regular supplementation of antioxidant nutrients for the eyes.
3. You should go to the hospital promptly in the following cases
1.Vision distortion.
2. Missing fonts when reading.
3.Difficulty in seeing in dim places.
4.In the advanced stage of the disease, the central visual field changes and diffuse dark spots appear.
Fourth, prevention of age-related macular degeneration should start from young.
From the age of 40, the defense system of macula will slowly become weak. From the age of 50, the risk of age-related macular degeneration gradually rises. Among people aged 75 to 84, l/3 of them already suffer from age-related macular degeneration. If you are already 50 years old or older, it is recommended that you have your eyes checked regularly for macular degeneration. If you have a family member who has had the disease, it is important to see your doctor even earlier, at the latest in your 40s. If there are other risk factors, then you should see your doctor even earlier.
V. How to establish a prevention system for age-related macular degeneration?
Macular antioxidant defense system can be maintained by diet, which works through the following substances.
1. Lutein and zeaxanthin. These two carotenoids are the only macular pigments in the inner layer of the retina.
2. The antioxidants vitamin C and vitamin E.
3, the minerals zinc and selenium.
4, Antioxidant enzymes.