Recently, the article about “looking at the cell phone after turning off the lights will lead to macular disease of the eyes, easy to go blind” was widely reprinted, the article said that “steroids are the special medicine for macular disease”; there are also articles that “once you have macular disease Once you have macular disease, it is equal to eye cancer, only waiting for blindness, because modern medicine can not be treated, let alone cured”. This conclusion is not based on science, not only misleading the majority of netizens, but also caused panic among the “cell phone family”. After reading the article, a reader recalled, “A few days ago, I was lying in bed with the lights out before going to bed, looking at my phone, and as a result, my right eye suddenly became a problem. A black circle appeared in the middle of my eye, blocking my vision, and I couldn’t see anything in the area blocked by the black circle, and all I could see around the black circle was yellow.” What is the cause of this? Here we combine this example to briefly introduce to the reader what macula is, the causes of macular degeneration, what are the common macular degeneration, how to prevent and treat it. The anatomical basis of visual function How does our eye perform the function of “seeing”? The structure of our eye is like a camera, with the cornea and pupil in the front, the vitreous humor in the middle which fills the whole space, and the retina and optic nerve in the back which are the most important and like the camera backplane. If we want to see clearly, all these organs in front should function normally, and the most important retina should be healthy, especially the macula. The ‘macula’ is not a ‘spot’, it is a normal physiological area on the retina in the fundus of the eye, which concentrates a large number of cells for visual function. Located in the center of the retina, the macula is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The retina immediately converts light or images into electrical impulses, and then transmits these impulses or nerve signals to the brain to form vision. The macula is an important part of the eye that determines visual function, recognizing most optical signals such as shape, size, color, depth, and distance. If there is any abnormality in it, symptoms such as vision loss, black shadows in front of the eyes or distortion of visual objects will occur. Any lesion in the macula, such as edema or hemorrhage, will affect imaging. Therefore, macula is a very important part on the retina of our human eye, and macular disease is called macular degeneration. Classification of macular diseases Macular degeneration is a kind of disease with many causes, such as age-related macular degeneration, macular degeneration caused by high myopia and macular degeneration caused by genetic factors. For young people, the common ones are “central plasmacytochoroidal retinopathy” and “central exudative chorioretinopathy”. In the elderly, the most common type is “age-related macular degeneration”, also known as “age-related macular degeneration”. Although it is the same as “macular degeneration”, due to the different causes of the disease, the conditions of patients are also different, and the treatment options also vary from person to person. Therefore, the rumor that “steroids are the special medicine for macular degeneration” is not based on science. With the aging of the population structure, the problem of age-related macular degeneration has become more and more prominent, and the incidence rate is increasing year by year. In this article, we will introduce the prevention and treatment measures for age-related macular degeneration in order to raise public awareness of this disease. Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is also called “Age-related Macular Degeneration”. Age-related, as the name implies, means that the incidence of macular degeneration becomes more and more severe as we age. Age-related macular degeneration is a disease that causes loss of central vision, which is necessary for you to do some “direct vision activities”; it is also a degenerative fundus disease that severely affects vision without causing eye pain, but the dramatic loss of central vision caused by it can be serious to our daily life and eventually It can lead to blindness. Age-related macular degeneration begins with the degeneration of cells in the macula, the central part of the retina. It can progress very slowly, and the disease is not obvious in the early stage. Patients often mistakenly believe that their vision will naturally decline as they age, so they take it lightly and delay seeking medical attention. Many patients will develop advanced lesions, which seriously affect their vision; there are also some patients, whose disease progresses faster. Age-related macular degeneration usually develops in both eyes, but often one eye is earlier than the other. Age-related macular degeneration is divided into two categories: dry and wet. What can I use to check myself for age-related macular degeneration? Since the most common symptom of dry age-related macular degeneration is mild blurred vision, it is difficult for patients to detect the disease through self-examination at an early stage, so it is recommended that middle-aged and elderly people should have an annual fundus examination. For wet age-related macular degeneration, elderly people can do a quick self-examination at home by using the Amsler table. If you see the table darkened, darkened, or straight line becomes curved, it may indicate that the function of macula is impaired, and you should go to the hospital for further examination in time. Who is more likely to develop age-related macular degeneration? AMD can occur in middle age and its risk increases with age. Other risk factors include: Smoking: Smokers have a several-fold increased risk of AMD compared to non-smokers. Obesity: Studies have shown an association between obesity and progression from early to mid-stage AMD to advanced AMD. Race: Whites are more likely to lose their vision due to AMD than African Americans. Family history: People with a family history of AMD have a higher risk of developing the disease. Gender: Women present a higher risk than men. Advice to patients Going back to the example in the article, the person who edited this text message probably meant well, using this sensational paragraph to advise people, especially teenagers, to look less at their cell phones, especially not good to look at cell phones, ipads and other LCD devices for a long time in the dark. Here to say clearly, cell phone is not the cause of macular disease, but incorrect eye habits do lead to visual fatigue, eye dryness and discomfort, and aggravate the occurrence of myopia, especially for the developing teenagers, it is more important to avoid bad eye habits. Reading in bright light can also sometimes cause blurred vision for a short time, leading to eye discomfort. If you have symptoms such as “a black circle in the middle of the eye with a sense of obscuration” for a long time, you need to go to the hospital for a dilated fundus examination to further clarify the cause of the problem, and then make a clear diagnosis by combining the symptoms with the signs and symptoms obtained from the examination, and give targeted treatment. Therefore, for our readers, we advocate healthy eye use, good eye habits, do not read and write in places where the light is too strong or too dark, or in cars, boats, trains, or airplanes. Pay attention to eye hygiene, take a half-hour break to relax your eyes, and have your eyes checked regularly every year for patients with high myopia. Eat healthy foods like green leafy vegetables and fish, don’t smoke, maintain normal blood pressure, keep your weight down, and wear sunglasses when you go out in strong sunlight. If you experience any discomfort such as loss of vision, distorted vision, or fixed black shadows obscuring your eyes, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible to avoid further development of the disease.