Your Today's Vision doctor is well-versed
in the treatment of many disorders. See the navigation
to the left and click on the condition to learn
more.
Many Today's Vision doctors are certified optometric
glaucoma specialists, and thus, can help treat
this condition with medication (usually given
in eye drops). If surgery is required, the doctor
will refer you to a specialist. Because glaucoma
is not preventable or curable, the best option
is to slow its impact. The earlier glaucoma is
detected, the less damage it will cause and the
longer you will have your vision.
Cataracts require the surgical skill of a medical
specialist, to whom your Today's Vision specialist
will refer you. If your vision is only slightly
blurry and isn't interfering with your lifestyle,
you may wish to avoid or delay surgery. When cataracts
are small, vision can often be improved by using
different eyeglasses, magnifying lens or stronger
lighting. Your Today's Vision doctor can assist
in this process. However, if the condition does
not improve, surgery to remove the cloudy lens
and replace it with a substitute lens is the only
effective treatment. In this instance, because
the natural lens has been removed from the eye,
a cataract cannot return. Sometimes a part of
the lens that was not removed during surgery becomes
cloudy and blurs vision. This is called an after-cataract,
and can develop months or years after surgery.
An after-cataract can be treated in a painless
procedure called a YAG laser capsulotomy in which
a laser beam is used to make a tiny hole in the
lens that will allow light to pass through it.
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According to Research to Prevent Blindness in
New York, no one knows how to prevent the eye
disorder Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD),
but the following practices may help delay its
onset:
- Maintain a proper diet including fruits
and vegetables rich in anti-oxidants, especially
leafy, green vegetables such as spinach and
collard greens.
- Wear sunglasses and brimmed hats to avoid
excessive sunlight.
- Don't smoke, since smoking reduces protective
antioxidants in the eye.
Recent advances in eye research offer new hope
to victims of ARMD. In a small percentage of
people with "wet" ARMD, a painless
outpatient procedure called laser photocoagulation
therapy can destroy abnormal blood vessels and
seal leaks, thereby retarding the disease.
Scientists supported by Research to Prevent
Blindness made an important inroad against ARMD
when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved
the first drug called verteporfin to treat the
disease. Verteporfin slows or halts "wet"
ARMD, the most severe form of the disease. Verteporfin
is a photo-sensitive dye used in a laser procedure
called photodynamic therapy (PDT). Injected
intravenously, the dye travels to the retina
where it is then activated by shining a low
intensity laser onto the damaged area. This
causes a chemical reaction which destroys the
abnormal vessel. PDT can retard visual deterioration
but clearly does not cure the disease. The treatment
must be repeated periodically.
At present, no proven treatment exits for the
dry form of ARMD.
For more information, contact visit the Research
to Prevent Blindness website at www.RPBUSA.org.
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