Central Vision Solutions > Company > FAQ'S

Macular Degeneration Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Can macular degeneration cause blindness?
A: It cannot cause total blindness. It can only cause loss of central vision. The amount of vision loss from macular degeneration varies quite a bit from patient to patient, and is not predictable. It can cause legal blindness, defined as 20/200 or worse best corrected visual acuity.

Q: What can this loss of central vision mean in terms of quality of life?
A: With loss of central vision, reading, recognizing faces, and seeing straight ahead can be difficult to impossible. Many patients describe their vision as having a dark spot in the center where they cannot see anything. The side, or peripheral, vision, however, is not affected. Therefore, these patients are still able to walk around; recognize their surroundings; and even, with the help of low vision devices, do some limited reading in many cases.

Q: What are the types of macular degeneration?
A: Some of them are:

• Age related macular degeneration (AMD)
• Numerous other hereditary types:
  • Vitelliform (Bests)
  • Fundus flavimaculatus (Stargardts)
  • Central areolar choroidal atrophy
  • Cone degeneration
• * Toxic, caused by the following drugs:
  • Plaquenil (prescribed for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis)
  • Certain major tranquilizers when used over a long term in high dosages

Low Vision Frequently Asked Questions:

Q. TERMINOLOGY: What are the differences between "low vision," "visual impairment," and "blindness?"
A. Standard vision is measured as 20/20. A person is considered "visually impaired" if she can see no better than 20/70 with correction in her better eye. This means she can see at 20 feet what people with standard vision see at 70 feet. If an individual's vision is no better than 20/200, she is considered legally blind. A person is also considered "legally blind" if his central vision is no greater than 12 degrees (i.e., he has limited peripheral vision and appears to be seeing things as if looking through a tube or straw). A person is typically referred to as "totally blind" or "black blind" if he has no visible sight. "Low vision" or "limited vision" usually refers to someone who has a visual impairment but is not totally blind.

Q. TEXT ENLARGEMENT: How much do I need to enlarge handouts or reading material for someone with low vision?
A. Print size will depend upon the needs of the individual. However, large print is usually defined as 16 to 18 point bold type depending on the typeface used. A standard Roman typeface, using upper and lower cases, is more readable than italicized, oblique, or condensed fonts. To enlarge print from standard 12 point original text to 16-18 point, use a 150-165% enlargement setting on a photocopier. For documents in electronic form, it is best to enlarge the font size before printing. The student is the best source of information regarding preferred print size.