An estimated 1.9 million Australians have some evidence of macular disease. Yet despite the prevalence of the disease – and the fact that it is the leading cause of blindness and severe vision loss in Australia – it was still a shock when one of our staff was recently diagnosed with a macular condition requiring intravitreal injections.
Over the years, mivision has regularly highlighted the burden faced by patients requiring treatment for all kinds of chronic eye conditions. There have been tens of thousands of words devoted to the subject in our pages. We’ve spoken to eye health professionals and interviewed patients.
My colleague is in the extremely privileged position of living in a major city with easy access to an ophthalmologist, of being able to afford treatment, and having access to family support and transport. She hasn’t experienced any vision loss, is well informed about macular disease, and her workplace understands her requirements for time off work to attend appointments.
She’s only at the start of her macular disease journey.
Yet seeing her anxiety at her diagnosis and walking alongside her as she starts treatment has given everyone at mivision just that little extra understanding of the burdens faced by the macular disease community.
This month, we celebrate Macula Month – a hugely successful initiative of Macular Disease Foundation Australia that has raised community awareness of the importance of regular eye examinations.
Our lead story examines the impact of age-related macular degeneration – the most common macular disease – on the finances and quality of life of individual patients. It’s part of exciting ongoing research that will ultimately help clinicians and researchers better monitor the impacts of AMD over time, and therefore better assess the effectiveness of interventions.
We profile Professor Paul Mitchell AO – a giant of ophthalmology – whose life’s work has advanced our understanding of macular disease enormously. And we look at some of the latest macular disease research, as well as new treatments on the market and in the pipeline.
As always, we have opportunities to earn CPD points through the mieducation portal. There’s also all the latest industry news, fashion news and more.
