Aging is a process where over time an individual experience a decline in performance, productivity and health. Problems of senior citizen usually appear after the age of 60 years and above. At this age, elder citizens face medical, economic, social and psychological problems. A common set of health issues in the elderly population are degenerative diseases like dementia, alzheimer’s, osteoarthritis, parkinson’s disease and eye diseases like age related macular degeneration (AMD).

AMD is one of the important causes of severe visual loss in the elderly population  and constitutes 8.7 per cent of blindness in the world. Age-related Macular Degeneration is a disease where abnormal blood vessels grow in the macula (centre part of retina) causing damage to the centre vision.

However, early diagnosis and timely treatment of AMD can help prevent depression and vision loss and quality of life of the patients.

Dr Rajvardhan Azad, Senior Consultant Vitreoretinal Surgeon, Former Chief, Dr R P Centre, AIIMS New Delhi, President of ALL India Collegium of Ophthalmology says: “The common symptoms of retinal disorders like AMD include blurred or distorted vision, dark spots in central vision or straight lines appearing wavy. Retinal diseases are often underdiagnosed as the symptoms as there is no pain and the other eye compensates for the poor eye. Only when profound loss of eye sight or the patient closes one eye it gets noticed therefore It is imperative to understand the symptoms and seek expert advice as early diagnosis can help prevent loss of vision.”