Disease Diagnosis & Blindness Prevention

Early detection is essential for catching eye diseases that lead to blindness. Regular eye exams are a crucial part of early intervention, especially for people over 65. Many ocular diseases have no initial symptoms, so they damage your eyes before you may even know you have the disease. The good news is 75% of vision loss is preventable or treatable with regular optometrist visits.

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How We Diagnose Eye Diseases

Because many eye diseases are initially asymptomatic, they need to be diagnosed by an eye care professional. During an eye exam, we use our years of experience and specialized equipment to test your vision and ensure your eyes are healthy. Particularly if you are over 65, have a family history of eye disease, or have diabetes, we’ll take extra care to assess you for irregularities in your ocular health.

Cataracts

Most people develop cataracts as they age. As you get older, the eye’s natural lens becomes cloudy, developing into what’s called a cataract. Cataracts scatter and block the light entering your eye, making your vision blurry and colours dull. Patients with obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes are at a higher risk of early cataracts, making an annual eye exam that much more important.

Glaucoma usually results from abnormally high ocular pressure slowly damaging the optic nerve, preventing visual information from being sent to your brain. Glaucoma affects your peripheral vision first, making it almost impossible to detect without an eye exam, but it is treatable if caught early.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a deterioration of the macula, used for central vision. Dry AMD occurs when deposits called drusen form beneath the macula. In Wet AMD, abnormal blood vessels grow under the macula and leak fluid. Dry AMD is more common, but Wet AMD causes more rapid and severe vision loss. Both can be diagnosed during an eye exam and monitored with fundus photography.