Macular degeneration is a condition that affects elderely indivuduals especially over 60 years of age. It is usually hereditary and causes problem in vision. Main symptom of macular degeneration are listed below:
1. Blurring of the central vision.
2. Difficulty is near vision even with reading glasses. (difficulty in reading newspaper/using mobile phones)
3. Distortion of images (people’s faces may seem deformed, straight lines may look wavy and road surfaces may seem uneven).
Those people who have family members with macular degeneration are at increased risk. People who smoke are also at increased risk.
Diagnosis is done by retina specialists by performing dilated eye examination. However, to find out the extent of the disease process, investigations such as OCT (optical coherence tomography), fluoresciein angiogram need to be done. Doctors choose the investigations depending upon the need and availability of the tests.
Macular degeneration is not completely curable. If the condition is diagnosed at an early stage, with treatment, it is possible to stop the progression of the disease and there might even be some improvement in vision. However, if the disease is diagnosed at late stage, even with treatment it is hard to improve vision.
Till date, there has not been any surgical techniques developed to treat macular degeneration.
As of now, there is no treatment to cure ARMD. Treatments that are available are mainly to stop the progression of the disease. For dry type, doctors prescribe vitamins to improve retinal health. Cessation of smoking is very important to stop the progression of the disease. It is also very important for the patients to have their eyes checked by a retina specialist every 3-6 months. That way, it is possible to start treatment with injections if the retina turns from dry to wet.
If the patient is found to have wet form of macular degeneration, then the treatment should be given in the form of injection into the eye as soon as possible. It is not possible to say how many injections one will need to bring the disease under control. It depends mainly on the extent of the disease process in the retina. Patients need to come for regular follow up as advised by the treating doctor.
Bevacizumab, Ranibizumab biosimilar and Ranibizumab
Our waiting time to begin the first evaluation is 20 minutes to 1 hour.
We are located in different parts of Nepal. The cities we are located in are Kathmandu, Batar and Galchhi.
Yes, we have government Insurance in our Mechi Drishti Eye Hospital and Birgunj Drishti Eye Hospital.
Sorry, we don't have LASIK surgery yet but we can evaluate you and refer you to the place where you can have LASIK.
