Worth repeating - Macular Degeneration

I posted  amsg a nonth or so ago called "The hazards of Growing Old"  It was all about an eye problem caslled Macular degeneration.  I just rec'd a comment thatmay be of interest to anyone w/ the probl;em.  Copy of the comment at end of this post.  BTW:  I visited a US veterans Administration Low Vision clinic about a month ago & learned a lot about availability of devices to help.  there is an outfit in St petersburg, FL (not Russia) that sells a lot of devices for the visually impaired w/ low vision.  Most of the gear is quite pricey, but they have a gizmo called "Ruby" that is the size of an i Phone that you can carry in a pocket or in a pouch around your neck.  It is actually the photograpc guts of a cell phone, modified to give up to 14X magnification.  Works great i stores for reading shelves & package lables.  Only cos=ts about $200 US dollars.  made in Canada.  Go to "Freedom Scientific" on web for more info.

"Good for you!

by shirley d - 2019-02-26 07:43:06

I can soooo empathise. It is one of my fears as I get older that my vision will deteriorate to the stage that I can no linger sketch or draw or READ! My Mom had macular degeneration. The dry type. Double edged sword! Only the wet type has a chance of being arrested, but the dry one at least it does not deteriorate as quickly as the wet. She also had problems with sharp and reflective light sensitivity and we had to repaint the surfaces in her room.

I use a reader called calibre, and download ebooks. it has settings for everything from font size to background colour. Works great and is FREE! It can also convert many file formats to ensure compatibility. I buy books for my kindle and read them on Calibre.

Who cares about the typos! if you do you can use GRAMMERLY, it underlines them in red and as you hover over it it gives you alternative suggestions.I am not a great typist and can't be bothered to monitor every word. I just go with my flow and hover and fix afterwards!

So glad to see you still on this site as I have been without a PM for years and am only recently electrified again!

Take care!

Shirley"

Donr

2 Comments

Worth Repeating Indeed

by Grateful Heart - 2019-02-28 00:19:56

That device sounds great!  I'm very happy for you and I'm sure you just helped many others...as usual. 

I will follow your lead and try to remember to use bold type for this site.  Maybe others will follow. 

You are a very important, knowledgeable and trusted member on this site.  I am sure glad you found a way Don.  We are all the better for it!

Grateful Heart

Stem Cell Therapy

by IAN MC - 2019-02-28 05:27:16

Hi Don     Here in the UK there have been quite a few encouraging reports of AMD being successfully treated with stem cell therapy.

I'm sure similar studies must be happening your side of the pond but, in case you haven't seen it here is a typical quote from a quick Google search :-

  " Patients regain sight after being first to receive retinal tissue engineered from stem cells

Successful trial on patients using new stem cell based treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Results from a clinical study suggest the treatment is safe and effective.
The study is a major milestone for the London Project to Cure Blindness and could lead to an ‘off-the-shelf’ treatment within five years.
The first patients to receive a new treatment derived from stem cells for people with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) have regained reading vision. "

Regards

Ian

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