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Macular Degeneration Portland
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a problem with your retina. It happens when the central part of the retina called the macula is damaged. With AMD you lose your central vision. You cannot see fine details close or far. But your side vision will remain normal. For instance, imagine you are looking at a clock with hands. With AMD, you might see the clock’s numbers but not the hands.
Please contact us to schedule an appointment to be evaluated for AMD. Your ophthalmologist will put dilating eye drops in your eye to widen your pupil. This allows him or her to look through a special lens at the inside of your eye.
Risk for AMD
You are more likely to develop AMD if you:
- Smoke cigarettes
- Are over 50 years old
- Have a family history of AMD
- Are Caucasian (white)
- Heart disease
- High cholesterol levels
- Are overweight
Dry AMD versus Wet AMD and Treatment
About 80% of people who have AMD have the more common dry form. Dry AMD is when parts of the macula get thinner with age and tiny clumps of debris called drusen grow. You slowly lose central vision.
Right now, there is no way to treat the dry form of AMD. However people with lots of drusen or serious vision loss might benefit from taking a certain combination of nutritional supplements. A large study found those people may slow their dry AMD by taking these vitamins and minerals daily: Vitamin C (500 mg), Vitamin E (400 IU), Lutein (10 mg), Zeaxanthin (2 mg), Zinc (80 mg), Copper (2 mg).
Wet AMD is less common but much more serious. Wet AMD is when new, abnormal blood vessels grow under the retina. These vessels may leak blood or other fluids, causing swelling and ultimately, scarring of the macula. You lose vision faster with wet AMD than with dry AMD.
To help treat wet AMD, there are medications called anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) drugs (Avastin, Lucentis, Eylea). Anti-VEGF treatment helps reduce the number of abnormal blood vessels in your retina and prevent them from leaking fluid or blood. This medicine is delivered to your eye through a very slender needle injection under aseptic (clean) conditions.
Introducing Eyedaptic AMD Glasses
NELSI is proud to be the first and only practice in Portland to offer Eyedaptic’s revolutionary smart glasses, designed to enhance remaining vision for patients living with Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy, and other forms of central vision loss.
These advanced glasses use patented software to optimize real-world vision—helping patients experience greater clarity, confidence, and independence.
We improve the vision of those suffering from retinal disorders including AMD (age related macular degeneration) through the development of software driven smart glasses, leveraging the power of augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
We're excited to bring this breakthrough technology to our low vision patients!
Learn more about Eyedaptic by clicking here! https://eyedaptic.com/products-with-the-eye6/