People living in Antrim who are dealing with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the primary cause of vision loss in Northern Ireland, can now take advantage of free training to best utilize whatever vision they have left, reported the Antrim Times on April 1.
According to the article, volunteers affiliated with the Macular Society are helping to train people with AMD so that they can use their remaining eyesight as best they can. The article explained that eccentric viewing and steady eye methods are being taught by volunteers to AMD sufferers during the training sessions. People who learn such techniques can better use their peripheral vision when their central field of vision fails them.
According to the article, in excess of half a million people living in the UK have AMD.
The article cited volunteer Kate McAllister as saying that the techniques taught don’t help everyone who uses them. However, those who do benefit end up benefiting quite a bid, she added. Learning new seeing techniques can help AMD sufferers to regain confidence lost due to their eye ailment.
Meanwhile, Cleon Hutton, Macular Society Re:vision manager, said in the article that the techniques can substantially help people in Antrim country who are living with AMD.
Various reports have mentioned that there are two types of AMD, namely dry AMD and wet AMD. The latter, as it turns out, is actually the more dangerous of the two since it can lead to untreatable vision impairment. Wet AMD is a condition that causes abnormal blood vessels to form beneath the eye. These blood vessels end up leaking blood and other liquids into the eye, which causes damage.
While there is no way for people to guarantee that they won’t get AMD, there are lots of things they can do to lower their odds of getting it. Getting lots of vegetables, exercising regularly, consuming fish with omega-3 fatty acids, avoiding high blood pressure, steering clear of obesity, avoiding high cholesterol and avoiding smoking.
An annual eye exam is recommended, but people who have a family history of AMD should see their eye care provider more regularly.