Self-testing is helpful in detecting a large difference in visual acuity (VA), or clarity of vision, between the two eyes that might indicate an eye disease, an ophthalmologist said yesterday.
Citing a recent case, Wu Jen-bin (吳仁斌), the chief ophthalmologist at the Shu-tien Clinic in Taipei, said a 69-year-old woman sought medical attention for a red, itchy eye and her doctor found that she had conjunctivitis and a cataract in her left eye.
She could see for only 20cm with her left eye, but had relatively good 0.7 (20/30) vision in her right eye.
The patient did not realize the significant difference between her eyes before visiting the doctor, Wu said.
Wu said the loss of vision in one eye, often caused by cataracts among elderly people, diminishes one’s ability to discern spatial differences, but people sometimes ignore it and become inured to it, so they fail to detect the loss of vision.
Wu said that three groups of people are advised to self-test with an alternating eye check (checking one eye at a time).
The first group is preschoolers, who can receive early medical intervention if a significant VA difference is present that might indicate amblyopia, or lazy eye.
The second includes people with astigmatism and those with myodesopsia, or eye floaters, who can check to see which eye has floaters or black dots in their line of vision.
The third group is elderly people and the general public, who can conduct self-examinations to see if vision in one eye has deteriorated. Seeing distorted images or having dark, blurry areas in the center of vision might indicate eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, Wu said.
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