Dr. David RP Almeida PATIENT COMMUNICATION PLATFORM
What is Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in North America. It affects probably about 10 percent of people over the age of 75, and so it’s the major cause of vision loss that we deal with as ophthalmologists. It is a very common condition from the standpoint of symptomatology that patients experience at that age.
There tends to be a very slow onset of distortion possibly, or just gradual diminution of vision over time. And it can be subtle. People may not even know they have it. So it is something that needs to be evaluated periodically by an ophthalmologist as you start to get older.
Retinal Detachment Treatment - Pneumatic Retinopexy
Pneumatic retinopexy implies injecting a gas bubble into the eye and creating a tear adhesion by either cryotherapy or laser. So what we’re going to do is repair that in multiple steps, all in the office. We freeze the eye with anesthetic, perform the cryotherapy procedure, and follow that with an injection of a gas bubble into the eye.
That’s all done right here in the office setting. After the pneumatic retinopexy procedure, there will be certain restrictions, particularly of head position, and that will depend on where the retinal break was located. The surgeon will direct that particular head position.
What is Diabetic Retinopathy and its Causes
Diabetic retinopathy is the second leading cause of vision loss in North America, but it’s the leading cause of vision loss in people of working age. It has major implications in terms of health economics and impact on society. It develops with a diagnosis of diabetes, and tends to occur 10 to 15 years after a patient is diagnosed with diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is diabetes that tends to occur as people are younger, and it tends to be the insulin-treated form of diabetes. And really when that disease begins, we can start counting because we have a very precise diagnosis to when Type 1 diabetes begins