Your macular pigment is one way to measure the quality of your diet and your risk for a macular degeneration, which can lead to devastating vision loss! Heterochromatic flicker photometry is a noninvasive diagnostic test to measure MPOD. The macular pigment is made up of zeaxanthin and lutein, which protect the retina and shield it from harm caused by damaging light waves known as short-wavelength, high-energy, visible blue light.
Who should be tested? Family history of dementia, macular degeneration,& Alzheimer’s Disease, past or present smokers, those with diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases.
Proactive vs Reactive: In the past, we waited until the eyes had been damaged before treating. With this new technology, we are able to identify decreases in macular function and assess your risk years before the damage occurs.
Now we have a metric! Before, we would give recommendations about exercise, diet, and nutritional supplements, and hoped for positive changes. With this new technology, we are able establish a baseline and actually measure success!
Health body = healthy eyes. It’s a basic concept and makes sense! Taking better care of yourself helps to preserve visual function. What could be more precious than your eyesight? Eat a heart healthy diet. Exercise at least 150 minutes/week, Reduce stress, Sleep 7 hours/day, Maintain a normal BMI, Reduce processed, sugary, & fast foods, Wear sun protection & blue light filtering glasses, Take NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS if your MPOD is low and/or your diet is poor, Quit smoking.
Fee for MPOD = $10
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a powerful imaging device that displays a cross-sectional view of the retina. We are able to to see damage from macular degeneration and glaucoma far earlier than we could before and that is not apparent on a normal dilated examination. In the past, we would wait until eye diseases affected vision, but at that point, it is permanently lost! Measuring the retinal nerve fiber layer provides an objective and reliable of damage BEFORE vision is affected.
OCT provides important information on diseases that manifest UNDERNEATH the visible retina, such as plaquenil toxicity, serous retinal detachments, hemorrhages, and abnormal blood vessel growth. It gives a more precise and detailed analysis for better diagnosis and management. We are able to co-manage more effectively with medical specialists.
Fee for OCT = $39
Fee for both MPOD + OCT = $45
Los Alamos Family Eyecare, P.C. 