drusens

[riljcu]

I had my bi annual eye check and my rx has changed very little.I am 70 years old. About 7 years ago my eye guyu
saw some Macular  spots in my right eye . He refered me to a MD eye specialist who said they were dry and to take  vitamins which I do. Now the recent exam showed drusens in each eye.  I was reassured that this wasn't uncommon in my age group and not to worry . I have no symptoms and I do the grid chart each day and see no wavely lines. I take AREDS  Basuch and Lomb vitamins,luten  and eat alot of green veggies. My weight and vitals are all good.

I really worried about what happens next and what I should do.. Can you assess my eye future ? Thanks

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

No way to tell. You are doing most things right. ARMD is a hereditary condition and if there are multiple individuals in your family with the problem and their vision failed as they grew older the prognosis is not as good as if few or noone has ARMD and they retain good vision as they age.


Other things you can do: don't smoke, don't get fat, protect your eyes from sunlight and take 2 or 3 enteric coated fish oil (Omega 3) pills/day. (take one per day for one week with your evening meal then add one each week with each meal.

JCH MD

[dukey]

The influence of family history is that strong?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Since completion of the human genome project many diseases that we didn't suspect have been found to be genetic. With regard to ARMD there are three genes that account for 90% of the cases of ARMD. Unfortunately at present the tests to determine if a person carries any of these genes is not available except in limited research settings.

Remember that people with out the genes can get ARMD and people with the genes may not have it (failurre of the gene to express itself) or it may be a very mild case.

JCH MD