MD/Glaucoma

> I took my mother to the opthamologist yesterday. She has MD but I
> didn't think it was too bad. She reads all the time, drives a car,
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> any problems. Is it likely treatment can improve her vision so that
> she can continue to drive and what treatments are available?

The answer to your questions depend entirely on the individual
situation of your mother, the driving laws where you live and the
questions should be directed to her doctor.

If "borderline", it means she is still legal to drive. Treatment
depends on what condition is underlying why she is borderline. Driving
restrictions depend on both best corrected acuity and size of visual
field. If cataract, glaucoma and macular degeneration are all
contributing to her reduced acuity then cataract surgery may improve
her acuity while glaucoma treatment may slow further loss. Some types
of macular degeneration can be treated to slow loss, some cannot. If
the glaucoma has caused field loss, then treatment will help slow or
prevent further loss but will not restore lost field.

Some areas allow for a person who has borderline failed driving
restrictions to have an assessment test drive with an occupational
therapist who will evaluate their actual driving performance and make
a determination whether driving will be permitted or not. Some areas
allowed for limited licensing, ie no night driving or no highway
driving.

Finally, remember driving restrictions protect us all. Your mother may
seem to drive ok, but may not see things well enough to respond quickly
in an near accident situation; thus endangering her own life or the
lives of others.

Dr Judy

Reply to this Message

Jane - 07 Oct 2006 21:20 GMT

Thank you for the comprehensive post. I agree that if she is indeed
impaired, she should not drive. My father-in-law (same jurisdiction)
seems to have considerably worse vision yet maintains a license. I
believe he is completely blind in one eye and his vision is reduced in
the remaining eye. We would prefer he would give up his license but he
is unlikely to do so willingly. My mother seems to have good vision in
one eye at least (she claims to have been easily able to read the
chart) but limited vision in the other eye.

It appears from what you say that there is really little hope of
improvement - that the most she can hope for is to slow the loss. The
potential for improvement seems to be in treating cataracts which I
don't think she has.

Thanks again.

> > I took my mother to the opthamologist yesterday. She has MD but I
> > didn't think it was too bad. She reads all the time, drives a car,
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
>
> Dr Judy

Reply to this Message

> I took my mother to the opthamologist yesterday. She has MD but I
> didn't think it was too bad. She reads all the time, drives a car,
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> any problems. Is it likely treatment can improve her vision so that
> she can continue to drive and what treatments are available?

The answer to your questions depend entirely on the individual
situation of your mother, the driving laws where you live and the
questions should be directed to her doctor.

If "borderline", it means she is still legal to drive. Treatment
depends on what condition is underlying why she is borderline. Driving
restrictions depend on both best corrected acuity and size of visual
field. If cataract, glaucoma and macular degeneration are all
contributing to her reduced acuity then cataract surgery may improve
her acuity while glaucoma treatment may slow further loss. Some types
of macular degeneration can be treated to slow loss, some cannot. If
the glaucoma has caused field loss, then treatment will help slow or
prevent further loss but will not restore lost field.

Some areas allow for a person who has borderline failed driving
restrictions to have an assessment test drive with an occupational
therapist who will evaluate their actual driving performance and make
a determination whether driving will be permitted or not. Some areas
allowed for limited licensing, ie no night driving or no highway
driving.

Finally, remember driving restrictions protect us all. Your mother may
seem to drive ok, but may not see things well enough to respond quickly
in an near accident situation; thus endangering her own life or the
lives of others.

Dr Judy

Reply to this Message

>I took my mother to the opthamologist yesterday. She has MD but I
> didn't think it was too bad. She reads all the time, drives a car,
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> she can continue to drive and what treatments are available?
>0

Jane,

You may also want to go to www.mdsupport.org for some background on MD.
Good luck with your mother.

Don W.

Reply to this Message

Jane - 07 Oct 2006 21:24 GMT

Thanks. I will definitely check it out.

> You may also want to go to www.mdsupport.org for some background on MD.
> Good luck with your mother.
>
> Don W.

Reply to this Message