Sunday, February 4, 2018

Undiagnosed Age Related Macular Degeneration


With the benefit of early diagnosis and treatment, seniors can manage their risk of vision loss from Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and protect their sight and lifestyle. The key is early detection and diagnosis by having regular eye exams as recommended by your eye doctor. Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible vision impairment in older adults in the United States, yet little is known about whether AMD is appropriately diagnosed in primary eye care. Many seniors visit their primary care physicians for various health issues and then assume that everything is fine when the primary care physician looks into their eyes with the bright light and doesn’t remark or comment about any problems. Unfortunately, results of a recent study published in JAMA Ophthalmology suggest that a large number of cases of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) are going undetected and undiagnosed even with the observation of primary care physicians. According to the study, by examining patients and comparing the eye exams to their primary care health records, 320 of 1288 eyes had AMD despite no diagnosis of AMD in the primary eye care medical record!  This study strongly indicates that under diagnosis of AMD can easily occur. If early AMD treatment is to be useful, seniors need to be sure to have regular dilated eye exams to help us help you avoid central vision loss.

If you or someone you know has a family history of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and is over 50 years of age or is a senior who has not had regular eye exams, please schedule and eye exam to help us help you avoid vision loss. Please 
call D’Ambrosio Eye Care at 800-325-3937, visit D’Ambrosio Eye Care, Google+ or facebook.com/dambrosioeyecare so that we can help.

D'Ambrosio Eye Care provides eye care for patients throughout greater Boston, central and western Massachusetts with office locations at 479 Old Union Turnpike, Lancaster, Massachusetts 01523, 865 Merriam Avenue, Suite 119, Leominster, Massachusetts 01453, 100 Powder Mill Road, Acton, Massachusetts 01720, 413 Main Street, Athol, Massachusetts 01331 and 74 Main Street, Gardner, Massachusetts 01440.