Hazards of high street make life with sight loss so hard to navigate
Most people take being able to see completely for granted.
That is not the case though for the number of people living in Perth and Kinross with macular disease.
The PA met up with Valerie Wares and guide dog Jorja, Claire Thomas and Hazel Rennie from the Perth Macular Group to find out what it is like to live with sight-loss in the area.
Most of the members of the group live with age-related macular degeneration.
Macular disease is the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK and can be caused by either the retinal cells dying off or abnormal blood vessels growing in the eye’s macula.
This can cause degeneration to people’s central vision, including gaps and dark spots, blurred vision, distortion and sight loss.
Valerie, who has age-related macular disease, said: “The group in Perth supports people with any kind of macular disease.
“The majority of members have agerelated macular degeneration, which occurs most often after the age of 50.
“Macular disease is an eye condition which affects our central vision and causes us to lose the ability to read and write, to drive, to recognise faces and to be able to see fine objects and details.
“It is diagnosed by a visit to the opticians where they can look at the retina in the back of the eye and see the deterioration in the macula - it is often diagnosed on a routine eye check.
“Some people experience things like wavy lines going down the door or along the skirting boards instead of