Monthly Archive for: ‘February, 2014’

The RTE One programme Nationwide this evening was visiting the Waterford Institute of Technology, highlighting the research into, and importance of Macular Degeneration, particularly its early detection and treatment. It was an interesting programme, and obviously the team in Waterford are leading specialists, for sure in Ireland, but perhaps worldwide.

The programme can be viewed on the RTE.ie website – there seems to be a limit of the last ten episodes.

One thing I do think is worth a mention- virtually everyone interviewed decided to have their eyes checked because they had noticed that they were having problems – they felt their glasses were not sufficient, or noticed distortion. Recently the Royal National Institute for the Blind in the UK was campaigning to highlight the problem with symptom led eye examinations- they were imploring Optometrists to stress the importance of regular eye tests – ones where there were no symptoms!

Many problems can be detected before symptoms are noticed by the individual, though this may not necessarily be the case in Wet AMD. Anyone concerned about Wet AMD should put an Amsler grid on their fridge or noticeboard and check their vision weekly. An Amsler grid can be downloaded here.