Need for Fairfield County Macular Degeneration Awareness as Population Ages

WESTPORT, CT, January 31, 2013 (Press-News.org) "At Doctor & Associates I feel that we have an obligation to educate patients about their risk factors for macular degeneration as well as the symptoms of macular degeneration so as to encourage regular eye exams-especially for patients over 50," commented Fairfield County Connecticut Ophthalmologist Leslie Doctor, M.D. "As the population in our community ages we want to do all we can to help patients get access to early detection, diagnosis and treatment of macular degeneration so we can avoid any vision loss, but especially the devastating vision loss that can occur from macular degeneration," explained Dr. Leslie Doctor.

Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in Americans older than 50. Although AMD is incurable, with early detection and diagnosis there are a number of treatment options that have proven to prevent further vision loss from the disease and in many cases may actually help recover some lost vision.

"Our daily clinical encounters with Fairfield County patients pretty well reflect recent national data indicating that more than 2 million people over the age of 50 are affected by late AMD. This represents a 25% increase since 2000-which is a significant increase," noted Dr. Doctor. "This is why we stress the importance of all patients older than 50 having regular comprehensive, dilated eye exams every one to two years so that we can detect any signs of AMD as early as possible. Even more important is that if anyone in your family has macular degeneration we want to see you more often. With early detection and diagnosis we can help preserve vision," counseled Dr. Doctor.

Patients can also help to decrease their risk of developing age related macular degeneration (AMD) by not smoking, moderating alcohol consumption to less than 15g per day, eating a heart-healthy diet rich in fish, fruit and green leafy vegetables, avoiding foods with trans fats, exercising and controlling blood pressure and weight.

Doctor & Associates is a leading Connecticut eye care practice providing eye examinations for adults and children, cataract surgery and intraocular lens implants (IOL), laser vision correction such as LASIK, diagnosis and treatment of cornea disease including cornea transplants, diagnosis and management of diseases of the retina including diabetes and age related macular degeneration and diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma as well as contact lenses, eyeglasses and optical services. For those patients in need of eye surgery, as a founding member of the Wilton Surgery Center, Doctor & Associates eye surgeons are able to provide eye surgery in a convenient, close to home and cost effective ambulatory surgery center.

To learn more about Doctor & Associates you may visit http://www.doctor-and-associates.com or http://www.facebook.com/doctorandassociates or follow our eye care blog at http://doctorandassociates.blogspot.com.

For additional information, contact:
Dorothy Figueroa, Doctor & Associates, 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880, dfigueroa@drdrgroup.com, 203-227-4113.

SOURCE: Medical Management Services Group, L.L.C.
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