Be Aware of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

The Eye Care & Surgery Center wishes to acknowledge National Macular Degeneration Awareness month by sharing information that seniors and others at risk for AMD should be aware of in order to help avoid vision loss.

About Vision Loss from Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
Age Related Macular Degeneration or AMD causes a loss of central vision but leaves peripheral or side vision intact. There are two types of AMD-Dry AMD & Wet AMD, each of which as a different effect on vision loss. Dry AMD accounts for some 85-90% of the cases of macular degeneration and causes a slow, progressive dimming or blurring of vision. Wet AMD is characterized by formation of new fragile unhealthy blood vessels under the center of the retina-called the macula. These blood vessels are quite susceptible to breaking and bleeding which leads to scarring and irreversible damage to macula-often with quick or sudden catastrophic vision loss. The key to avoiding vision loss from age related macular degeneration is early detection, diagnosis and treatment-and thus the need for regular eye exams.

Protecting & Preserving Vision from Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
Patients can often reduce their risk of developing AMD by not smoking as well as working to eat a heart-healthy diet rich in fish, fruit and green leafy vegetables, avoiding foods with trans fats, limiting alcohol consultation where possible, avoiding aspirin, exercising and controlling blood pressure and weight. In addition, once you are over 50, it becomes increasingly important to have a thorough, comprehensive dilated eye exam every one to two years-and even more often if you have any family history of AMD or at the recommendation of your eye doctor. The key to preventing vision loss from AMD is clearly early detection, quick diagnosis and then immediate access to treatment with vascular endothelial growth inhibitor (VEGF) injections such as Lucentis® & Eylea®.

If you or someone you know has a question about age related macular degeneration (AMD) the risks of AMD or how to avoid vision loss from AMD, please call The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter to schedule an appointment.

The Eye Care & Surgery Center is staffed by a team of Board Certified NJ Ophthalmologists who are subspecialty Fellowship trained New Jersey eye surgeons, Opticians, technical and administrative staff who provide eye examinations for adults and children, surgery for cataracts, intraocular lens implants (IOL), laser vision correction such as LASIK, diagnosis and treatment of cornea disease including cornea transplants, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the retina including diabetes and age related macular degeneration (AMD) and diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma, reconstructive and cosmetic facial surgery including eyelid surgery and facial and skin rejuvenation as well as contact lenses, eyeglasses, eyewear and optical services.

With locations at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830, The Eye Care & Surgery Center is a leading NJ eye care practice conveniently located for patients from throughout central and northern New Jersey.

Glaucoma Risk Increases with Early Menopause

The Eye Care & Surgery wishes to share information about the increase in the risk of developing glaucoma among women who enter menopause at an early age. According to a study at the Netherlands Ophthalmic Research Institute in Amsterdam women who go through menopause early may be at greater risk of developing glaucoma. In a study of more than 3,000 women, those who went through a natural menopause before the age of 45 were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with open-angle glaucoma as women who went through menopause at age 50 or older. The results indicate that female hormones may be protective against open-angle glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness.  Of interest is that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is thought to reduce fluid pressure inside the eye. Similarly, as hormone levels rise during pregnancy, fluid pressure inside the eye decreases significantly, the researchers noted. This is the first study to examine the relationship between female sex hormones, as indicated by age of menopause, and open-angle glaucoma.

If you or someone you know has a question about their risk of glaucoma, early menopause or sex hormones and their protective nature against glaucoma, please call The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter to schedule an appointment.

The Eye Care & Surgery Center is staffed by a team of Board Certified NJ Ophthalmologists who are subspecialty Fellowship trained New Jersey eye surgeons, Opticians, technical and administrative staff who provide eye examinations for adults and children, surgery for cataracts, intraocular lens implants (IOL), laser vision correction such as LASIK, diagnosis and treatment of cornea disease including cornea transplants, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the retina including diabetes and age related macular degeneration (AMD) and diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma, reconstructive and cosmetic facial surgery including eyelid surgery and facial and skin rejuvenation as well as contact lenses, eyeglasses, eyewear and optical services.

The Eye Care & Surgery Center is a leading New Jersey eye care practice with offices at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830

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Glaucoma Highlighted at The Eye Care & Surgery Center

The Eye Care & Surgery Center wishes to highlight the need for regular eye exams with glaucoma testing should be part of everyone’s eye health & vision agenda.  We know that the key step in preventing vision loss from glaucoma is early detection, diagnosis and treatment- especially for our aging population and those with any factors that increase their risk of glaucoma such as age as there an increase is risk as patients transcend through their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, diabetes and other vascular disease, smoking, early menopause amd especially if a sibling has glaucoma. We strongly recommend that siblings of glaucoma patients be screened each and every year as their risk of developing glaucoma is some 5 times higher than the typical population. Further, patients should be particularly sensitive to the fact that in African-American and Hispanic populations, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness.

If you or someone you know has a question about glaucoma, glaucoma risks or needs a glaucoma eye exam please call The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter to schedule an appointment.

The Eye Care & Surgery Center is staffed by a team of Board Certified NJ Ophthalmologists who are subspecialty Fellowship trained New Jersey eye surgeons, Opticians, technical and administrative staff who provide eye examinations for adults and children, surgery for cataracts, intraocular lens implants (IOL), laser vision correction such as LASIK, diagnosis and treatment of cornea disease including cornea transplants, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the retina including diabetes and age related macular degeneration (AMD) and diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma, reconstructive and cosmetic facial surgery including eyelid surgery and facial and skin rejuvenation as well as contact lenses, eyeglasses, eyewear  and optical services.

With locations at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830, The Eye Care & Surgery Center is a leading NJ eye care practice conveniently located for patients from throughout central and northern New Jersey.

New Year’s LASIK with Flex Plans!

At The Eye Care & Surgery Center, January is a popular month for LASIK! Many patients want LASIK to fulfill their New Year’s resolutions self improvements of seeing clearly at distance without glasses or contact lenses. January is also a great month for LASIK because if you or family members have Flex Plan funds to use, this is a good time to make LASIK affordable! Many employers offer Flex Plans-Flexible Spending Accounts or FSA’s. These plans allow you to have money taken out of your paycheck over time to pay for LASIK. What is even more appealing about Flex Plans is that money is withheld in Pre-Tax dollars allowing you to get extra tax savings. 

 

If you or someone you know has a question about LASIK or would like to schedule a Free LASIK consultation please call The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter to schedule an appointment.

 

The Eye Care & Surgery Center is staffed by a team of Board Certified NJ Ophthalmologists who are subspecialty Fellowship trained New Jersey eye surgeons, Opticians, technical and administrative staff who provide eye examinations for adults and children, surgery for cataracts, intraocular lens implants (IOL), laser vision correction such as LASIK, diagnosis and treatment of cornea disease including cornea transplants, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the retina including diabetes and age related macular degeneration (AMD) and diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma, reconstructive and cosmetic facial surgery including eyelid surgery and facial and skin rejuvenation as well as contact lenses, eyeglasses, eyewear  and optical services.

 

With locations at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830, The Eye Care & Surgery Center is a leading NJ eye care practice conveniently located for patients from throughout central and northern New Jersey.

Retina Spots, Freckles & Colonoscopy

Milton Kahn, M.D., a NJ Retina Specialist asked “What could having a colonoscopy for colon cancer risk possibly have to do with your eyes?” As it turns out-plenty! The retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) is a layer of the retina which can sometimes be thicker than normal at birth-or “hypertrophic, however they usually do not cause any vision problems or symptoms.

Congenital Retinal Pigment Epithelial Hypertrophy (CHRPE) is typically found before patients reach 30 years of age. These areas may enlarge with time but usually do not lead to malignancies like colon cancer. However, there is an association between people with Gardner's Syndrome-Familial Colonic Polyposes-or polyps of the colon, and CHRPE. If your eye doctor has told you that you have Congenital Retinal Pigment Epithelial Hypertrophy-perhaps called “Bear Tracks” or “Pigment Spots” or “Retina Freckles”, it is important to carefully explore and review your family history with a Gastroenterologist who will likely schedule you for a colonoscopy. CHRPE has a “statistically significant” correlation with hereditary colon polyps known as Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, or FAP. It may be that the freckles are caused by the same genetic mutation that produces the polyps. A study published in 2010 in the American Journal of Gastroenterology concluded that patients with such freckles should be referred for colonoscopies.

Thus-when we are over 50 years of age, the reasons to have yearly eye exams includes not only detecting cataracts, glaucoma, age related macular degeneration (AMD) and other eye diseases, but regular eye examinations may very well be a reminder to be screened via colonoscopy to help detect early risks and potential indicators of colon cancer.

If you have questions or need an appointment to learn more about “Bear Tracks” or “Pigment Spots” or “Retina Freckles” please call The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter.

The Eye Care & Surgery Center is staffed by a team of Board Certified NJ Ophthalmologists who are subspecialty Fellowship trained New Jersey eye surgeons, Opticians, technical and administrative staff who provide eye examinations for adults and children, surgery for cataracts, intraocular lens implants (IOL), laser vision correction such as LASIK, diagnosis and treatment of cornea disease including cornea transplants, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the retina including diabetes and age related macular degeneration (AMD) and diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma, reconstructive and cosmetic facial surgery including eyelid surgery and facial and skin rejuvenation as well as contact lenses, eyeglasses, eyewear  and optical services.

With locations at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830, The Eye Care & Surgery Center is a leading NJ eye care practice serving central and northern New Jersey.

Optical Physics & Macular Degeneration Help

Optical physics may provide some help for the vision problems created by macular degeneration. The application of optical physics might be helpful to patients in helping them overcome the visual distortion caused by AMD. “While the key to maintaining eye health and vision as we age-especially regarding macular degeneration-is having regular eye exams, there are still a growing number of patients who experience a disturbing distortion and twisting of their vision resulting from macular degeneration,” explained Milton Kahn, M.D.

Nobel Laureate Walter Kohn described a potential application of what is a dynamic “translator” for the particular distortion a patient experiences either in handheld computers or an optical corrective lens. “We routinely use the Amsler Grid, a graph-paper-like pattern to diagnose AMD-Dr. Kohn suggested that the Amsler grid could also be used to develop an optical correction,” said Dr. Kahn.

When people with healthy eyes look at the Amsler Grid, they see its straight horizontal and vertical lines, with a dot at center.  Patients with AMD, however, often perceive a distortion about two or three centimeters in diameter in the center.

Dr. Kohn has initiated the development of software that lets an AMD patient, using a mouse, pull the virtual lines until he or she perceives the grid as “perfect,” yielding reversal of the specific distortion a person experiences. Dr. Kohn then uses these results to create a correction for that patient. In one experimental device, a handheld computer scans the printed page, using software to perform dynamic compensation, distorting the text to make it readable for patients. In addition, Dr. Kohn uses of a slab of optical material to fabricate the visual correction so that AMD patients could hold the optical slab of refractive material over text, pictures or reading material, just like the magnifying glass people use for seeing small type—only the surface of Kohn’s slab resembles ocean currents or waves that reverse the distortion.

“These are very exciting ideas and offer promise to help us deal with the visual distortion caused by macular degeneration,” offered Dr. Kahn.

If you have questions or need an appointment to learn more about macular degeneration and optical physics please call The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter.

The Eye Care & Surgery Center is a leading New Jersey eye care practice with offices at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830

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Macular Degeneration Risk in Irish Descendants

Patients of Irish heritage should note that they might be at greater risk of macular degeneration. It is generally believed that there is a strong familial predisposition toward increased risk of macular degeneration however new research suggests that Irish people are more genetically predisposed to develop age related macular degeneration (AMD) than other Caucasian populations is important.

The study conducted by the Department of Genetics at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital Research Foundation, evaluated blood samples from more than 200 patients with AMD and compared them with samples from participants without the disease to identify genetic risk factors. The study shows that Irish people are at an elevated risk of developing AMD. It is also known that smokers are four times more likely to suffer from the disease.

If you are over 50 years old or even earlier if you have a family history of AMD or are of Irish descent you should please schedule an appointment by calling The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visiting The Eye Care & Surgery Center or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter.

The Eye Care & Surgery Center is a leading New Jersey eye care practice with offices at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830

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