The macula is responsible for central vision, which allows you to see fine details and do tasks such as reading small print or threading a needle.

The most common symptom of macular degeneration is that objects and faces appear fuzzy, blurry or distorted. Another symptom of AMD is that there are dark or whited out areas in the center of vision, and straight lines look bent and uneven.

AMD begins with the formation of deposits called drusen under the retina. In some cases, abnormal blood vessels grow under the retina. Although AMD does not cause complete blindness, it can cause significant vision problems and prevent you from doing daily activities such as driving, reading and participating in sports.

AMD can be diagnosed through a comprehensive eye exam. Your ophthalmologist will dilate your pupils with eye drops and examine your eyes with an ophthalmoscope, an instrument that allows your doctor to see the back of your eye and retina. Many people are not aware that they have macular degeneration until they have a noticeable vision problem or until it is detected during an eye examination, so it is important to stay current with your eye exams. A one-hour eye exam can help prevent AMD and preserve healthy vision for years to come.

Certain eye conditions have very specific warning signs which don’t require an M.D. to diagnose. If you are squinting to see objects that are far away, you have myopia, or nearsightedness. Having trouble seeing that small type on your smartphone or Kindle? You may be developing presbyopia.

Some eye conditions are not accompanied by symptoms, but they can cause permanent vision damage. One of these conditions is glaucoma, an optic nerve disease caused by increased pressure inside the eye. Glaucoma can develop slowly and painlessly without you even noticing it, until you have lost a significant portion of your vision.

The best way to prevent vision damage from glaucoma is to diagnose the disease in the early stages. However, without warning signs, how is it even possible to detect this disease? In the absence of symptoms, you must be aware of the risk factors for glaucoma. One of the most significant risk factors for glaucoma is family history. The most common form of glaucoma is called primary open-angle glaucoma, which accounts for about 80 percent of glaucoma cases. If members of your family have primary open-angle glaucoma, it could increase your risk by four to nine times.

Because family history can be so influential in whether you develop glaucoma, it is important to communicate with your extended family members about the disease. Vision damage from glaucoma is irreversible, and it is currently the second-leading cause of blindness in the United States. Unfortunately, glaucoma is not preventable, but it is treatable, especially when it is diagnosed early. If glaucoma runs in your family, make it a priority to stay current with comprehensive eye exams. Dilated eye exams are the best way to ensure that eye disease can be detected and treated at the earliest possible stage.

Other diseases include diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema and cataracts. Each form of diabetic eye disease is capable of causing significant vision loss and blindness.

Why does diabetes cause eye disease?
Increased blood sugar levels cause changes in capillary walls and can cause blood vessel damage. Weak blood vessels in the eyes can leak blood and fluid and cause diabetic retinopathy. As the disease progresses, retinal blood vessels close and are replaced by abnormal blood vessels. The abnormal vessels along the eye's drainage pathway can increase the pressure inside of the eye and cause stress to the optic nerve. If this stress is not relieved, it can progress into glaucoma and cause permanent eye damage or even blindness.

Importance of eye exams
Glaucoma and other forms of diabetic eye disease can develop slowly and painlessly over the course of months or years. Staying current with comprehensive eye exams is the best way to prevent vision loss, so people with diabetic eye disease should have their eyes examined at least once per year. If you have diabetes, it is essential to control your condition with the help of your primary care physician and eye care specialist. Along with scheduling regular doctor visits, be sure to take your medication as prescribed, exercise regularly, and eat a well-balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins (Source: NEI).

It is often difficult to know what type of assistance your parent needs, especially if he or she wants to remain as independent as possible.

Here are some tips to help you be an effective caregiver to a parent or loved one who has glaucoma:

• Schedule regular eye exams. Glaucoma is nicknamed the “sneak thief of sight” because it has no warning signs in the early stages. In fact, glaucoma can cause your parent can lose up to 40 percent of their vision without even knowing it. Staying current with comprehensive eye exams will help prevent glaucoma-related vision loss and help your parent maintain a higher quality of life. Make sure that, in your caregiving, you do not neglect your own eye health. You can even schedule your comprehensive eye exam on the same day as your parent’s appointment.
• Help create healthy meal plans. Studies suggest that a diet that is rich in antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin can help lower the risk of eye damage. Fruits and vegetables that have orange and yellow skins are high in lutein and zeaxanthin, including corn, carrots, squash, and citrus fruits. Leafy green vegetables like kale and collard greens are good sources as well.
• Improve indoor lighting. Poor lighting conditions can cause temporary eye strain and lead to headaches. More importantly, low light increases the risk for falls, injury and hip fractures. You can help your parent stay safe by adding more light sources in the home and using higher wattage light bulbs.
• Help administer eye drops and medication. Medicated eye drops are one of the most common glaucoma treatments to help lower eye pressure, but eye drops are often not administered properly. Insufficient medication can cause spikes in eye pressure that can lead to optic nerve damage and vision loss.

There is no cure for glaucoma, but you have a unique ability as a caregiver to help preserve your parent’s vision and delay vision loss. By taking some of these simple steps, you can significantly impact your parent’s eye health (Source: Liv Home).

Next to cataracts, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in the world today. Glaucoma is not just one disease; it is an entire group of eye diseases that is characterized by elevated eye pressure that damages the optic nerve. Damage to the optic nerve is irreversible, and permanent vision loss can occur if glaucoma is not discovered in the early stages. There is currently no cure for glaucoma, and the existing treatments only serve to help prevent further vision damage.

Regular comprehensive eye exams are the best way to detect glaucoma at the earliest possible stage. During a comprehensive eye exam, your ophthalmologist will perform many tests to detect eye conditions such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, focusing problems, color blindness, cataracts, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. Glaucoma is often tested by tonometry, or a pressure test that blows a small puff of air into each eye. If elevated pressure is present in either eye, your ophthalmologist will know immediately.

If you are diagnosed with glaucoma, there are many treatments that your ophthalmologist can suggest. Many glaucoma patients begin their treatment by using medicated eye drops that help bring their eye pressure down to a safe level. If you have more advanced stages of glaucoma, your doctor may present other options like laser procedures or surgery to open up the filtration system in the eye or to shunt inner eye fluid away from the eye to lower eye pressure.

Because glaucoma often has no symptoms in the early stages, your best defense against glaucoma is having routine eye exams. A glaucoma test will be able to detect the disease much earlier than waiting for symptoms to present. One of the earliest warning signs of glaucoma is narrowing of the visual field, or reduced peripheral vision. By the time you may notice changes in your vision, the disease has often progressed to a more advanced stage.

Don’t take chances when it comes to your eyesight. Take a few moments to call your ophthalmologist to schedule a comprehensive eye exam. It will help prevent glaucoma and keep your vision healthy for years to come.

The main objective in managing glaucoma is maintaining a safe level of intraocular (inner eye) pressure. Increased intraocular pressure places stress on the optic nerve, which can result in permanent eye damage. One of the standard glaucoma treatments is medicated eye drops, which must be administered at specific intervals every day to lower intraocular pressure. Topical drops can be effective when they are used as directed, but patients often forget to administer their eye drops or they may administer them incorrectly.

Due to the time-intensive nature of this eye disease, researchers have been trying to develop technology that will make managing glaucoma a little easier. The September issue of the Journal of Glaucoma published results of a recent survey that gathered interest among glaucoma patients and their caregivers for an app on their smartphone or tablet called the Glaucoma App.

The Glaucoma App was developed by Wills Eye Glaucoma Research Center and Drexel University. It has many helpful features such as educational videos, eye drop reminders, appointment reminders, medical data storage, a visual field tutorial, and intraocular pressure tracker. Functioning as a “treatment plan hub,” the Glaucoma App gathers all information in a single location for the ease of patients and their caregivers (Source: Eye Doc News).

The developers of the Glaucoma App hope that this new tool will help patients and their caregivers follow eye drop regimens more precisely, remember follow-up appointments and stay up-to-date on glaucoma news. If you are having trouble managing your glaucoma treatment plan, look for the free Glaucoma App in the iTunes store. Your ophthalmologist may also have some helpful tips as well, so schedule a check-up soon.

If you have diabetes, you are prone to develop diabetic retinopathy, a condition in which the delicate blood vessels of the retina become damaged and start leaking, resulting in distorted vision. It is important to diagnose diabetic retinopathy in the early stages because it can cause retinal scarring, vision impairment and eventually blindness. November is Diabetic Eye Disease Month, a time to increase awareness of diabetic retinopathy and other diabetic-related eye complications.

A recent study was published in Diabetes Care by researchers across the globe.The study examined regions of the world over the past 20 years with the highest number of people who were visually impaired by diabetic retinopathy: South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, and West Sub-Saharan Africa.
Over the past two decades, blindness and visual impairment because of diabetic retinopathy increased significantly. In 2010, one in every 39 blind people was blind due to diabetic retinopathy, which increased 27 percent since 1990. Of those with moderate or severe vision impairment, one in 52 people had diabetic-related vision loss, a stunning increase of 64 percent since 1990.

The authors of the study compiled a report that included some specific recommendations for how to decrease diabetic retinopathy incidence and prevent vision loss. Some ideas include:

• Improving control of glucose levels and blood pressure among diabetics
• Increasing education about diabetic retinopathy and related vision loss
• Developing cost-effective strategies for screening
• Prevention and treatment of diabetic retinopathy through laser treatments, steroid injections and other drugs

If you have diabetes, it is important to have annual comprehensive eye exams for optimum eye health. Your ophthalmologist will perform various tests to evaluate the health of your retina and examine the blood vessels inside your eyes. Early diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy means early treatment and, best of all, preserved vision (Source: Medical Express).