I have macular degeneration and cannot read the newspaper

Age macular degeneration is a disease of the central area of the retina that causes a loss of central vision with a strong impact on the quality of life of patients. Ophthalmologist Salomé Gonçalves explains that, in this case, there are several ways to overcome the limitations caused by the disease:

Let's talk about the most chosen products, the prescription for which varies from case to case: special lenses for close-up vision, with a higher magnification than usual, and therefore with a greater capacity to magnify; there are hand-held magnifiers or magnifiers which can be placed on paper and can be illuminated or not; and then there is the group of electronic aids - of these I will only consider a few: portable magnifiers: they can fit in your pocket, help you to see details, allow you to read texts which are not very long, such as prices, labels, menus, medication leaflets, invoices, receipts - these kinds of small things.

Then we have desktop magnifiers: they have bigger screen, allow comfortable reading of books, magazines, newspapers; playing, for example crosswords or alphabet soup, and even writing, drawing again or even painting the nails. They can have voice software, which means that when the person is tired of reading, they can switch to the voice that will read the text for them.

They may also have a camera attached that captures both distant and close-up images, allowing us to see our face in detail so that we can apply make-up or shave.

For those who use computers, adaptations can be made to them which will make a difference to their reading and writing capacity. I am still talking about tablets and smartphones, which have an integrated computer, are portable, allow you to use magnification or even photograph, and then enlarge images that were previously unrecognisable. Smartphones, in addition to many other applications, also have a voice that reads the screen. Finally, it reaffirms the lighting conditions, both in the environment and on the work surface, which can also optimise reading and writing capacity.

I end with two warnings: all these options are considered according to the clinical case and for certain types of macular degeneration there are treatments that delay the progression of the disease; therefore, when the first signs of altered vision appear, do not neglect a routine consultation with your ophthalmologist.

In tomorrow's programme we will talk about low vision.

With the support of the Portuguese Society of Ophthalmology.