Cigarettes, excess weight and hypertension also damage our... vision! People who smoke at least one pack of cigarettes a day have more than twice the risk of developing severe age-related macular degeneration, while overweight people are up to 70% more likely to have a severe reduction in vision. Those with hypertension are at greater risk than those with normal blood pressure at up to 50%...
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of severe vision loss in people over the age of 50. It is estimated that today about 400,000 Greeks suffer from macular degeneration and that 100,000 of them have or will have a serious vision problem in the coming years.
The sooner the problem is treated, the better the chances of a better outcome. Therefore, it is easy to see how much importance the patient himself will attach to some early symptoms.
The new drugs, the famous antiangiogenic agents, are administered intraocularly, act directly, have no systemic side effects and have essentially replaced lasers and photodynamic verteporfin therapy. These treatments offer patients the opportunity not only to maintain but also to significantly improve the quality of their vision and visual function above baseline. The treatment is long term and is applied in both state and private centres throughout Greece.
The week from 21 to 27 September is dedicated worldwide to Age-related Macular Degeneration and the Hellenic Federation of Ophthalmological Societies and the Hellenic Vitreous-Retina Society are organising public information and awareness events. At yesterday's press conference the president of the Hellenic Federation of Ophthalmological Societies N. Markomichelakis, the president of the Hellenic Vitreous-Retina Society T. Kouris, the special secretary of the Hellenic Ophthalmological Society E. Gozzarides and the president of the Panhellenic Association of Retina Patients S. Hadjicharalambous presented the symptoms of the disease and the latest data on its treatment. Age-related macular degeneration starts with mild symptoms in one eye, which usually escape attention. Vision becomes «blurred», shades of grey are not distinct or the contrast of objects is reduced.
