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Diagnosing macular disease

The optometrist at your local optician’s practice can test sight, prescribe glasses and check for eye disease.

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is a medication used to treat several conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, some skin conditions (especially photosensitive ones) and others that involve inflammation.

A regular eye examination is an important health check for everyone. You should have an eye test every two years or as often as recommended by your optician, even if you don’t have any problems with your sight.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows your optician to identify subtle changes over time, such as changes in the vitreous (the jelly-like substance that fills the eye), the retina and the macula.

What is fluorescein angiography?

A fluorescein angiography (FA) is a way of studying what is happening at the back of your eye. The blood in your body flows through tiny blood vessels. It helps the doctor see exactly where the blood vessels are in your eye, their size and any problems they might have. This helps the doctor make a diagnosis.

If you have an inherited macular condition, or your child has been diagnosed, you may be confused and worried about what this means for your family.

When you are diagnosed with a sight loss condition, it can be overwhelming and you might not know what to do first. We are here to guide you with what to do after receiving a diagnosis and to help you get any support you may need.

A macular condition can bring practical and emotional life changes for those diagnosed and for their family and friends.

When you are first diagnosed with macular disease, it can be a shock and you might not know what to do next. You might not even fully understand what your new condition is. This section will guide you in what you need to do. You can carry out these actions in any order you wish and it is important you go at your own pace. There is no right or wrong way.

Dry aged-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a slow deterioration of the cells of the macula, often over many years. There is no medical treatment for dry AMD but research is going on around the world, including research funded by the Macular Society.