[blindza] Fw: "Eccentric viewing" treatment aids those with macular degeneration
- From: "Jacob Kruger" <jacobk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "BlindZA" <blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2007 14:52:15 +0200
The Daily Mail (UK)
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
"Eccentric viewing" treatment aids those with macular degeneration
By LESLEY GIBSON
Simple eye exercises that help the blind see again
The world is a dismal looking place for anyone with macular degeneration.
They can't distinguish between people's faces, can't drive, can't read or
even watch TV - words and images are just a blur.
Some can't see in colour.
For the half a million Britons who have it, macular degeneration is a pretty
bleak diagnosis - and there is no cure.
But now a simple new approach to treating the condition could greatly
improve patients' lives.
This treatment - known as "eccentric viewing" involves changing one's angle
of vision to make use of healthy parts of the eye that can still see.
It can help even those with severe sight impairment to read and see people
more clearly.
Two years ago Richard Elliott, 66, a retired civil engineer, from
Shrewsbury, developed macular degeneration in his right eye.
"My vision became distorted, so straight lines, like lampposts, looked
bent," he says.
"I sing with my church male-voice choir and started singing wrong notes
because I wasn't seeing the first note in each bar; only the second. I was
terrified
I was going to go blind."
He underwent eccentric viewing training in July and is now able to read
again.
"I was so moved I cried," he says. "I was elated."
Ophthalmologists describe the technique as a breakthrough.
As Winfried Amoaku, an ophthalmologist consultant and chairman of the
Scientific Committee of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, says: "It can
make
a big difference to people's lives." The macula is the central part of the
retina -the tissue at the back of the eye that sends visual signals to the
brain.
It is the size of a grain of rice and is the area of the retina we use to
see colour and fine details. There are 1,500 conditions affecting the
central
vision, but the most common is age-related macular degeneration, which
typically affects the over-60s. The retina becomes wrinkled (this is known
as "dry"
macular degeneration) or abnormal blood vessels start growing and leaking
onto the retina, causing scar tissue ("wet" macular degeneration).
Both types distort central vision, although the dry form is much more
common.
Wet macular degeneration is particularly serious as it invariably leads to
blindness unless treated and is the more aggressive form of the disease.
However, if caught early, the wet form can be treated with medication.
The drug Lucentis has been shown to halt and, in some cases, even reverse
the condition; but there is a postcode lottery for treatment, with some NHS
trusts
rationing the drug because it is very expensive.
Avastin, which is cheaper and believed by some doctors to be as effective,
is currently undergoing NHS-funded trials.
However, there is no effective treatment for the dry form of the condition.
The new technique works by helping people to find and use peripheral parts
of the retina where the tissue is healthy, instead of the central part,
which
may be useless.
For instance, instead of moving their eyes across a page, the patient learns
to find the point in their eye that can see best, and move the page across
that spot.
This might mean having to look above, below, or slightly to one side of a
word to focus on it most clearly.
Learning the technique requires dedication and concentration.
"You have to re-educate your brain to read differently, and your eyes to
look differently," says Richard Elliott.
"You have to really concentrate.
"First you use a series of charts to pinpoint the part of your retina that
can focus in the most detail. You have to aim off the target; instead of
looking
straight at it, you look slightly away from it."
Richard Elliott's situation was particularly desperate as he had only one
"good" eye to start with.
Soon after he was born during World War II, his hometown of Sevenoaks was
bombed, and the shockwaves caused his left eye to turn inwards.
This meant his vision didn't develop properly.
Fortunately his right eye compensated but then, two years ago, it developed
age related macular degeneration.
Because of the risk of the right eye deteriorating even further, Richard was
given training in his "useless" left eye.
"When the training began, I could only just read the top letter on an
optician's chart: about the size of the headlines on this page, directly in
front
of me. Within three days, I was reading newsprint with the left eye I'd been
told was useless. I was astonished."
With the help of strong lighting and magnifying glasses, other patients,
some of whom have been unable to read for years, can often see in enough
detail
to enjoy even small text again.
Richard now trains other people in eccentric viewing, as a volunteer.
"it's extremely rewarding," he says.
"The technique is very simple, yet incredibly effective."
Not only those with age-related macular degeneration can benefit; people
with many other conditions affecting the macula can be taught to see more
clearly,
too.
For younger people with macular disease, it can make an important difference
to their lives.
Sheridan Dixon has Stargardt's disease, a form of macular dystrophy which
causes gradual loss of the central vision.
It's a genetic condition for which there is no cure.
"By the age of 28, reading had become so laborious that I gave up doing it
for pleasure," recalls the 45- year-old.
"And it became difficult to recognise people from a distance."
She was registered blind at 29.
After giving up her clerical job to raise her children - she lives with
husband Jed, 51, and children Ross, 17, and Amy, 15, in Jarrow, Tyneside, -
she
feared she'd never be able to return to work.
"I used to get upset," she says.
"Losing your sight is hugely frustrating.
"I worried about the effect on my husband and children, as well as on me.
"I wished I could take them out, like other mums, but I've never been able
to drive."
Then in 2005 she heard about the eccentric viewing technique through the
Macular Disease Society, and was among the first to learn it.
"The trainer helped me identify my best eye, and the part of my retina best
able to focus using high magnification and good overhead lighting," she
says.
"Perfecting the technique was hard work. But I practised every day for a
fortnight, until I was reading for two hours at a stretch."
Seven years ago, Sheridan's son bought her the novel My Beloved Son by
Catherine Cookson.
"I felt very touched but terribly sad, because I thought I'd never be able
to read it," she says.
Yet after learning eccentric viewing, she was astonished to find she could
read the novel after all.
"It was so liberating to be able to snuggle up on the sofa next to my
husband and read for pleasure for the first time in 20 years," she says.
"And it was wonderful to be able to tell my son I'd enjoyed his gift."
The technique has helped her to work, too - three years ago she found a job
as an empowerment officer for the charity Sight Service.
After eccentric viewing training she was able to give a talk to 70 people at
a Department of Health conference, using the technique to read her notes.
Everyday tasks such as shopping are easier, too, now she can read labels and
cards for herself.
Eccentric viewing is being taught in three-day courses for members of the
Macular Disease Society.
For more information, contact the Macular Disease Society on 01264 350551
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=485170&in_page_id=1774
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