Help For A Patient With Stargardt's Disease

This past week I had the opportunity to evaluate and help a lady with Stargardt's Disease. Stargardt's, also known as juvenile macular degeneration is hereditary condition that usually first effects a person's vision in their first or second decade of life. It has the same devastating effects on the victim's eye sight as the more common Age Related Macular Degeneration.

The patient this week is 38 years old and has had Stargardt's for many years. Although she has glasses to compensate for myopia (nearsightedness) she rarely wears them because they make very little difference in how well she sees. With the glasses her visual acuity, measured with a special low vision chart, was only about 20/240 with her better eye.

Her top goals are to return to driving, read her mail, read medicine labels and to be able to see her computer monitor. Unfortunately, her vision is not sufficient to obtain a driver's permit in Virginia, even with the use of bioptic telescopic glasses. I was able to help her with the other three things on her wish list.

I prescribed prismatic glasses for use in reading and for the computer monitor. The pair used for reading magnify 2 times and she was able to easily read the newspaper or large print bible. The second pair of prismatic glasses magnify a little more than one time and allowed her to read the computer monitor in my office without enlarging the font.

Reading medicine labels is especially important and is actually required in her job. For that purpose I prescribed a new electronic video magnifier, called a Pebble. Pebble is a small, lightweight, hand held device with three different magnifications, from 5X to 10X. Using the Pebble she was easily able to read medicine labels. Other uses of the Pebble are to read price tags, ingredients and directions on packages, menus and other similar tasks. When I asked what she thought of the Pebble, she said "I love it". Pebble costs $695 plus shipping and with it's small size and 10X magnification should be a very valuable tool for many people with low vision.

There are many different causes of low vision and many different ways of helping people cope with the problems. A specialized low vision evaluation by an optometrist skilled in low vision care can result in an improved life for many of these people. In my low vision practice the key to my success in helping people is a careful telephone screening before they are scheduled. If you would like help with your low vision problems call me toll free 866 321-2030 for a free telephone consultation. I'll be able to tell you in few minutes if I can help you reach your goals. If I cannot help I'll be honest with you and will not schedule an appointment. Give me a call. I'll be happy to talk with you.  More information about help for low vision at www.VirginiaLowVision.com