Sunday, March 10, 2013

New Hope and Treatments for Macular Degeneration in Connecticut

Connecticut optometrist, Dr. Randolph Kinkade and founding member of the International Academy of Low Vision Specialists, is helping those suffering from macular degeneration see better.

Rehabiliation Treatment options for Macular Degeneration: Spectacle Miniature Telescopes, Implantable Miniature Telescopes and Electronic Magnification Aids.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of permanent vision loss and low vision for Americans over the age of 55. It is estimated it affects as many as 15 million people in the country.  The number is expected to grow to close to 30 million in the next 10-20 years.  Low vision is the result of permanent vision reducing eye diseases like macular degeneration.

Macular degeneration is a progressive disease that leads to damage to cells in the retina in the back of the eye.  More precisely, it affects the straight ahead vision in the macula.  When the macula is damaged people describe their vision as “cloudy” or “misty” or even “distorted”.  In the advancing stages there are “blind spots” or “missing pieces” in the central vision making reading the newspaper very difficult or impossible.

“People with living with macular degeneration often have difficulty with important everyday tasks we all take for granted.  This takes its toll physically and mentally on patients and their families,” says Dr. Kinkade.


Dr. Kinkade with External Telescopic Simulator

In the past, patients have heard from their doctors there is nothing more that can be done for their macular degeneration.   Now with pioneering changes comes new hope.  Medical treatment offer injections for wet AMD.  

“Rehabilitation options like Spectacle Miniature Telescopes and Implantable Miniature Telescopes provide better vision,” says Dr. Kinkade.  “Electronic magnification aids improve contrast and reading ability”.
 

Spectacle Miniature Telescopes (SMTs) are emerging as a tremendous option for many patients with vision limiting conditions.  Tiny telescopes, providing magnification and clarity, are prescribed into glasses with the patient’s prescription built in.  Dr. Kinkade is using newly designed SMTs.
 
Patient with Spectacle Miniature Telescope

 
Implantable Miniature Telescopes (IMTs) are providing a new surgical treatment for some older patients with advanced macular generation.  A micro-telescope replaces a developing cataract in one eye.  Dr. Kinkade is part of the first doctor team in Connecticut to offering the IMT.


Patient with Implantable Miniature Telescope
 
 
Electronic Magnification Aids offer tremendous magnification and improved contrast for reading.  They are available in hand-held and desk-top units.  The monitor size varies depending on the design and application.
 
Patient with Electronic Video Magnifier (CCTV)
 
 
About Macular Degeneration

There are two form of AMD. Dry (atrophic) AMD is caused by a slow breakdown of the light-sensitive cells in the macula at the back of the eye.  There is no current treatment for this form of AMD
 
 


Dry Macular Degeneration
In wet (exudative) AMD, fluid and blood leaks behind the macula damaging the photoreceptors needed for vision.  A series of injections can now often stop the advancement of this form of AMD.

 
Wet Macular Degeneration

In their later stages both wet and dry AMD cause legal blindness.

The true causes of macular degeneration remain unclear.  It is known that advancing age is the greatest risk factor for this disease.  Contributing factors are believed to be nutrition, smoking, genetics and possibly exposure to ultraviolet light.
 
 


About Dr. Randolph Kinkade

Dr. Kinkade as a master of public health degree (MPH) from the University of Connecticut where he concentrated his studies on the prevalence and treatment of low vision.

He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry Low Vision Section and a member of the Vision Rehabilitation Section of the American Optometric Association.

He has offices throughout Connecticut: Cheshire, Danbury,Farmington, Litchfield, Manchester, Norwalk and Waterford.

Additional information can be found on his website www.LowVisionEyeglasses.com. He can be contacted at 800.756.0766 and emailed to rkinkade@optonline.net

 

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