Vision

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Wet AMD is not curable, but treatments exist to slow the rate of vision decline. Laser surgery, photodynamic therapy, and injections into the eye are all used as “treatments.”

• Laser Surgery. A high energy beam of light is aimed directly onto the new blood vessels and destroys them, preventing further loss of vision. However, laser treatment may destroy some surrounding healthy tissue and some vision. Only a small percentage of people with wet AMD may be treated with laser surgery. Ask your doctor for more information.
• Photodynamic therapy. A drug is injected into your arm that travels throughout your body and “sticks" to the surface of new blood vessels. The drug is activated by a light shined into your eye and then proceeds to work by destroying new blood vessels—but not surrounding healthy tissue. Ask your doctor about whether or not this procedure is right for you.
• Injections. A similar drug to the one injected into your arm for the above therapy may now be injected directly into your eye. Please consult your doctor for more information on this relatively new procedure.  

Dry AMD Once dry AMD reaches an advanced stage; there are no real solutions to prevent vision loss. The best prevention is to have regularly eye exams. If dry AMD is found in a mild to moderate stage, treatments may be used to slow or stop the progression of the disease. The National Eye Institute's Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) found that taking a specific high-dose formulation of antioxidants and zinc significantly reduces the risk of advanced AMD and its associated vision loss. Please contact your doctor for more information.

Cataracts

Cataract treatment involves surgical removal of the cataract(s). According to the National Institute on Aging, “A cataract needs to be removed only when vision loss interferes with your everyday activities, such as driving, reading, or watching TV. You and your eye care professional can make this decision together.”

While the exact cause of a cataract is unknown, the following behaviors or conditions may make a person more susceptible to cataracts:

• Intense heat or long-term exposure to the sun
• Medical conditions such as diabetes
• Hereditary influences
• Long-term steroid use
• Eye injuries, disease, or inflammation
• Smoking

Glaucoma

Depending upon the type of glaucoma, treatment may include medication, usually prescription eye drops, or surgery to lower the pressure in the eye and prevent further damage to the optic nerve. While there is no cure as yet for glaucoma, early diagnosis and continuing treatment can preserve eyesight.

Please see the Prevent Blindness in America Website for specific information on treatment for glaucoma. 

Hearing Loss

As one’s hearing declines, a doctor may prescribe a hearing aid to help make things sound louder. The volume of the hearing aid may be adjusted depending on the situation. An audiologist or other doctor can work with people experiencing hearing loss to find the most appropriate hearing aid.

Other technologies to help preserve and enhance hearing include:

1. Personal listening systems help “tone down” unwanted noise, such as traffic, and “tone up” personal conversations or other types of sounds.
2. TV listening systems help enhance the sounds coming from the television or radioand filter out surrounding noises. These systems can be used with or without hearing aids.
3. Direct audio input hearing aids can be plugged into TVs, stereos, microphones, auditory trainers, and personal FM systems to help enhance sound.
4. Some telephone and cell phone amplifying devices are made to work with certain hearing aids. Others simply make sounds louder, much the same way a hearing aid does.

Talk to a doctor or audiologist about hearing loss treatments to determine the best option.

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