Untreated or undetected macular disease is the most common cause of legal blindness in Australia and in the Western world. People over the age of fifty should see their optometrist every twelve months because macular problems can develop at any stage spontaneously. Fortunately, we live in an era where most macular diseases are now treatable and, in fact, good vision can be retained – provided the macular condition is treated early enough in the disease process (e.g. wet macular degeneration, macular hole).
One way that people in the community can perform a “do it yourself” check for the possibility of macular disease is to cover one eye and use the other eye to look at straight lines. This test can be done formally using graph paper called an Amsler Grid. If the lines appear wavy or if there are blacked out areas in the centre of the graph, then the patient has macular disease and should see their optometrist or ophthalmologist within a week or two.
Although it’s pleasant to have good vision to appreciate nice scenery, the more important advantage of good vision is that it leads to independence in life. There is nothing worse than feeling that you are dependent on someone else because you can’t see well, and good vision maintains a person’s quality of life.
Vision Eye Institute was formerly known as The Eye Centre prior to forming a partnership with 40 other ophthalmologists throughout Australia. The practice started on the Gold Coast and Dr Bob Bourke formed the local partnership with others in 1998 and the practices have continued to grow since then. The local practices include subspecialty trained ophthalmologists to cover all subspecialty areas of ophthalmology and eye surgery including cataracts, glaucoma, surgical retina, medical retina, cornea, eyelid surgery, strabismus etc.
Vision Eye Institute is located at Southport (corner of Short Street and Marine Parade), Varsity Lakes (Bermuda Point) and Coolangatta.
Vision Eye institute is opened five days a week and provides consultancy emergency care for local private hospitals. You can contact Vision Eye Institute on 07 5557 8300 or 1800 RETINA
Correction: Unfortunately a rough draft of this article was inadvertently placed in last week’s edition of the Tweed Coast Weekly. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this oversight. What went to print did not represent Dr Bourke’s view on macular disease and the newspaper apologises for grammatical and factual errors.
Story: Dr Bob Bourke, Ophthalmologist, Vision Eye Institute
