The Battle Against MMD

By Peh Shing Huei
MDS Secretary

The numbers were sobering. 20 per cent of Singapore children are myopic when they walk through the gates of school for the first time. 70 per cent would be wearing glasses or contact lenses before university. And 80 per cent of the military men of this country have less than perfect vision, leading to an ever shrinking pool of pilots for the Singapore Armed Forces.

Singapore, said Dr Adrian Koh (above) in a talk at the Macular Degeneration Society last Saturday, has the "dubious honour" of being the Myopia Capital of the World. The country's short-sighted population is three times higher than the United States.

That's not the worst bit, he added in a 30-minute long presentation titled The Battle Against MMD (Myopic Macular Degeneration). Singaporeans also has a higher proportion of people with high myopia (over 600 degrees). This high myopia group makes up 10 per cent of those wearing spectacles in Singapore, compared to just 2 per cent in the West.

Unfortunately, with high myopia, more problems arise as the eyeball stretches. Instead of a round ball as a normal eye should be, it becomes elongated, not unlike a rugby ball, for example.

There are three main complications from high myopia, said Dr Koh, who is a founding partner and senior consultant at the Eye and Retina Surgeons, Camden Medical Centre. They are: Myopic Macular Degeneration (MMD), Macular Schisis and Retinal Detachment. They can all lead to blindness, if not treated promptly.

Thankfully, treatment has been improving, in particular for the growing threat of MMD. The new Anti-VEGF injections, such as Macugen, Avastin and Lucentis, have been able to prevent 95 per cent of patients from losing further vision and helped 70 per cent gained vision. For 40 per cent of the patients, they even enjoy a doubling of the vision lost, said Dr Koh, who is also the director of the Retinal Centre International and vice-president of the International Retinal Foundation.

But ultimately, prevention is better than cure. He gave four tips to the 35 MDS members present at the Alexandra Hospital - UV protection; Daily Supplements; Stub out the cigarettes; and an antioxidant rich diet.