Age-related macular degeneration and low vision

Written by: Mr Praveen Patel
Published: | Updated: 23/04/2023
Edited by: Laura Burgess

Here, Mr Praveen Patel, award-winning consultant ophthalmologist, provides an expert insight into low vision as a result of age-related macular degeneration.

 

 

What is considered low vision?

 

Low vision is when problems with sight, such as blurred vision, cannot be corrected with glasses, contact lenses or by any medical or surgical treatment. One of the most important and common causes is age-related macular degeneration (AMD). When people suffer sight loss, it's important that they see an optometrist urgently to find out the cause of why their vision has changed.

 

What causes vision to change?

 

Sometimes changes in vision are due to getting older and needing glasses. However, sometimes people can develop other symptoms, such as straight lines looking bent or wobbly; difficulty seeing when lighting is poor (for example, at night); or a dark or blurred spot appearing in the vision. These sorts of changes in vision could indicate the development of AMD, and if people do develop these symptoms it’s important to see an optometrist or an opthalmologist (eye doctor).

 

AMD is a condition in which vision loss or low vision can result from the death of light-detecting cells (photoreceptors) in the retina (the light-sensing layer at the back of the eye - like film in a camera).
 

How can we prevent low vision from age-related macular degeneration?

 

To avoid low vision resulting from AMD, it's important to find out the type and severity that is causing vision loss. In dry AMD, the death of light-detecting cells means that there can be a blind spot in the vision. There are no effective treatments for dry AMD but magnification devices can help people to read and help overcome some of the difficulties arising from low vision.



For people with wet AMD, where fragile blood vessels grow into the retina causing damage to light-detecting cells, early diagnosis and treatment with eye injections can help prevent low vision. Early diagnosis is crucial and it’s important to see an eye doctor specialising in the assessment and treatment of wet AMD. The medicine in the eye injections is designed to block the action of the chemical which causes fragile blood vessels to leak and bleed.



Some patients have both wet and dry AMD in the same eye and eye injections may not be as effective in this case. This is because although the injections are effective in treating wet AMD, they do not prevent dry AMD from getting worse. Eye injections need to be given on a repeated basis for wet AMD as they do not cure the condition, and the underlying blood vessel can start bleeding again when the effect of the medicine wears off.

By Mr Praveen Patel
Ophthalmology

Mr Praveen Patel is an internationally-revered and award-winning consultant ophthalmologist based in central LondonSawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire and St Albans. He specialises in macular degeneration (AMD), retinas and retinal vein occlusion alongside diabetic retinopathy, macular oedema and intravitreal injection. He privately practices for Moorfields Private Outpatients Centre, The Rivers Hospital, London Medical and the Eyesight Clinic at the Redbourn Health Centre. He also works for the NHS at the world-renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

Mr Patel is passionate about providing cutting-edge treatments for patients on the NHS and privately. He is the lead consultant for medical retina clinical trials and retinal imaging at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the age-related macular degeneration treatment service at the Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust, in partnership with Moorfields Eye Hospital. 

Mr Patel, who has a special interest in cataracts and retinal and macular disease, qualified from Cambridge University in 1997 with a first class degree. This was followed by postgraduate training in Ophthalmology at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London.   
 
Mr Patel has an esteemed reputation for excellence in patient care for macular disease, including the use of the injectable medications Lucentis, Eylea and Ozurdex as well as Avastin. Verteporfin photodynamic therapy and advanced macular laser treatments are also incorporated into his skilful practice. His clinical research reflects his expertise to the highest standard; Mr Patel won the Moorfields Research Medal for his work, as one of the lead investigators for the world's first randomised trial of Avastin for age-related macular degeneration, which was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

His research work has also extended to validating new imaging modalities for the assessment of macular disease and he is a clinical research fellow at Moorfields and at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology.

Mr Patel's work has been published in various peer-reviewed journals and he is an international member of the Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology (ARVO) and member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM). He is also a fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

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