EP #20: Deciphering Macular Degeneration: A Visionary Conversation with Dr. Laura Falco

Unlock the mysteries of macular degeneration with Dr. Laura Falco, as she joins me, Jeremy Wolf, on a journey through the delicate intricacies of the macula and its role in our central vision. Prepare to be enlightened as we navigate the differences between the dry and wet forms of this increasingly common condition. Throughout the discussion, Dr. Falco deftly sheds light on the silent threat of drusen accumulation and how it undermines the sharpness of our sight.

Brace yourself for an eye-opening exploration of the risk factors that could be quietly conspiring against your visual health, including genetics, lifestyle, and environmental contributions. Dr. Falco doesn't just stop at identifying problems; she provides a beacon of guidance on proactive steps for safeguarding that precious window to the world—our eyesight. Her expert insights offer not only a deeper understanding of macular degeneration but also a clarion call to action for anyone concerned about maintaining their vision well into their golden years.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Jazzy Eyes podcast.
Taking care of your vision withexpert precision.
Here's your host, dr LauraFalco.

Jeremy (00:13):
Hello, hello everyone, and welcome back to the Jazzy
Eyes podcast.
I'm your co-host, jeremy Wolfe,joined by your host, dr Falco.
Mr Falco, how are you doingtoday?

Dr. Falco (00:23):
Good, how are you doing?

Jeremy (00:25):
I am doing well.
Today is Monday and I don'tknow about you, but I'm feeling
pretty, pretty Jazzy today.
I know you wanted to talk alittle bit about a topic that
I've heard before but reallyknow nothing about, so I'm
interested to get into this tolearn a little bit about it.
It's macular degeneration, and Iknow you mentioned there's two

(00:47):
types.
You have dry and what was theother one again Wet, dry and wet
.
Okay, that makes sense, right?
So we'll get into the wetversion, if you will, with Dr
Newin in another segment.
So please enlighten us.
What are we talking about here?

Dr. Falco (01:04):
So, with the population aging and this is
also coined age-related maculardegeneration I have a lot of
patients who have a familymember their parent has been
diagnosed with maculardegeneration.
What can we do?
What does it mean?
And as we are living longer, wehave a lot of patients who are

(01:25):
getting this diagnosis andhaving trouble seeing.
So, in the nutshell, the maculais the part of the back of the
eye that contains an area calledthe phobia.
This is the only part of theretina of the back of the eye
that is capable of seeing 2020vision.
You have a retina that linesthe entire back of an eye think

(01:48):
of like a back of a basketballIf you are looking at a
concavity like that but there'sonly one place in the macula,
called the phobia, that can see2020.
So when that part gets damaged,you cannot see 2020 anymore.
The other parts of the retinalet you see 2400.

(02:08):
You can see if there's a shadowin your side vision.
You can see light and dark, butyour ability to resolve sharp
vision is in that one place andthat one place alone.
So, as we age, the retina has ametabolism, just like every
other body part.
There is a waste product thatis produced with retinal
metabolism and that is calleddrusen.

(02:30):
Think of it like the garbagethe retina has to get rid of as
we age.
Sometimes the retina is notgreat at getting rid of the
garbage and it depositssomething called drusen waste
product in the macula and thephovial area.
When you have a coalescence or abunch of these starting, you

(02:52):
have what we refer to as maculardegeneration.
So there is a physiologicchange to the back of the eye,
in that area where you can seesharp vision and big risk
factors.
The most modifiable risk factoris smoking Patients who have
light eyes and then UV can alsocontribute to macular

(03:15):
degeneration, but pigmentsgenerally protective.
So those patients who are atrisk are light eyes, patients
who smoke, patients who gooutside without proper UV
protection, especially as youage.
So it's not abnormal to havesomebody who has drusen.
But when we have a lot of themstart, then we transition from

(03:38):
that to macular degenerationwhich is in staged like mild,
moderate, severe, and it can bevery visually disabling for a
patient.

Jeremy (03:49):
Now, is this something that obviously it sounds like it
affects you as you get older?
Is this something that canactually be present in a younger
person as well, or is it?

Dr. Falco (04:01):
You can have it, typically know.
Typically it's age-relatedmacular degeneration and if you
do see the presence of drusen ina younger patient, it's
typically a different type ofdisease process, a retinal
dystrophy.
You can see something thatresembles this in younger
patients, but it's typically adifferent disease process.
This is more like you know asyour metabolism changes and you

(04:24):
know like the retinal metabolismchanges as you get older and it
can no longer do a great job ingetting rid of the waste
product.

Jeremy (04:31):
Very interesting.
So many fancy terms you threwout there.
Is there, aside from the eyecollar that you mentioned, is
there also a genetic component?
Yeah, meaning, if your parentshad this, you're more likely to
have those.

Dr. Falco (04:42):
Thank you for mentioning that, yes, there is a
genetic component to maculardegeneration.
So when I examine patients whoare getting older and they have
a family history of maculardegeneration, I will run
specific tests to do baseline,so that we have a reference
point, a start point, so that wecan detect a change as soon as

(05:03):
it starts.

Jeremy (05:05):
Interesting.
Now I know obviously smoking isnot good for you, but I'm
curious how does that affectthis whole process?

Dr. Falco (05:14):
The oxidative damages that go to the back of the eye.
Smoking is terrible foreverything, so smoking will
cause you to have cataracts muchearlier different type of
cataract and on a cellular level.
The damage that it does to themetabolism of the retina is
severe and sometimes it's likethe last push.

(05:36):
Somebody needs to stop smoking,which is great because that's
good for their life in general.

Jeremy (05:43):
Interesting.
So that is kind of the whatright, the what and the why, if
you will.
I know you wanted to talk alittle bit about, actually I
think, treatment for this inanother segment.
Yes, yes, is there anythingelse you wanted to share before
we end here?

Dr. Falco (06:00):
No, I think this is a good starter.
I don't want to bombard.
This is a good baseline starter.
A lot of information, yeah, toprocess.

Jeremy (06:06):
You always have.
Every time we do a podcast,there's always so many crazy
words that are thrown around,still process and everything on
my end here, all right, cool.
So everyone for joining us andwe'll catch you on the next
episode, take care everyone.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
Thank you for listening to the Jazzy Eyes
podcast.
For more information, visitJazzyEyescom or contact
954-473-0100.