Retina Specialist Advises NJ Seniors to Know Their Macular Degeneration (AMD) Risks

"Knowing your individual risk factors, being aware of your family history and scheduling regular eye exams are the necessary steps seniors should take to help us detect, diagnose and treatment AMD as early as possible as this is what it takes to prevent age related vision loss," explained New Jersey Retina Specialist Milton Kahn, M.D. of The Eye Care & Surgery Center. End Quote

Edison, NJ (1888PressRelease) January 29, 2015 - Dr. Kahn of The Eye Care & Surgery Center advised seniors and other concerned with age related vision loss from age related macular degeneration (AMD) to become aware of their personal risk factors. "Certainly we know that AMD continues to be the leading cause of new blindness in Americans 65 and older. But today we also know that seniors who develop AMD no longer should consider blindness to be inevitable if we can get them diagnosed and treated quickly."

Know These Top AMD Risks!
- Being over the Age of 60
- Having a Family History of AMD
- Cigarette Smoking
- Obesity
- Hypertension

If you have any two of these risk factors, you should schedule an appointment for a thorough eye exam and any necessary specialized retina testing. In addition to this testing we may recommend certain preventive measures that might help further reduce your risk of vision loss.

Reducing AMD Risk Factors
Lifestyle and diet can make a difference. Taking steps to stop smoking, eating a low fat diet rich in green leafy vegetables and limiting alcohol consumption that can reduce the risk of vision loss from AMD. Other risk factors such as genetic factors cannot be changed. However, knowing your family medical history is one way to learn whether you may be genetically predisposed to a disease. For patients at high risk for developing late stage AMD, taking a dietary supplement of vitamin C, vitamin E and beta carotene, along with zinc, has been shown to lower the risk of AMD advancing to advanced stages by 25 percent.

Know Wet AMD Symptoms
"Anyone identified to be at risk of AMD needs to become familiar with the symptoms of Wet AMD, as this type of AMD is the most likely to cause rapid, serious and catastrophic vision loss. Wet AMD might include a sudden, noticeable decrease in "straight ahead" or central vision which may include a distortion of vision, such as seeing wavy lines, bending of straight lines and objects or even the appearance of distorted facial features of people you know," explained Dr. Kahn.

Treatment Options for AMD
"Our best treatment option for Wet AMD includes the use of injections of Vascular Endothelial Growth (VEGF) inhibitor drugs such as Lucentis® and Eylea®. The earlier we make the diagnosis of Wet AMD, the better our chances of providing patients with a successful treatment and a favorable outcome where we can stop vision loss and in some instances we actually restore some vision," explained Dr. Kahn.

The Eye Care & Surgery Center is staffed by fellowship trained ophthalmologists who are board certified Diplomats of the American Board of Ophthalmology. They provide eye exams for adults and children, cataract exams and laser cataract surgery & lens implants, , laser eye surgery for vision correction such as bladeless all laser 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 conveniently located for patients from throughout central and northern New Jersey.

To learn more about The Eye Care & Surgery Center you may visit http://www.newjerseyvision.com or http://www.facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter or follow our eye care blog at http://eyecareandsurgerycenter.blogspot.com.

For additional information, contact:

Jerette Lerner, The Eye Care & Surgery Center, 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, jllerner ( @ ) newjerseyvision dot com, (P) 800-504-1083

SOURCE: Medical Management Services Group, L.L.C.
http://www.aboutcataractsurgery.com
http://www.seewithlasik.com

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