Ita Buttrose’s important message for people with this disease
<p>Ita Buttrose, the new Chair of the ABC, has urged those with a history of macular disease to get regularly checked for the degenerative eye condition.</p>
<p>She wants all Australians to know that if a family member has macular disease, which is also the nation’s leading cause of blindness and vision loss, there is a whopping 50 per cent chance a member of the same family will contract the disease.</p>
<p>As the patron of the Macular Disease Foundation of Australia, 77-year-old Buttrose has been vigilant in raising awareness about the disease.</p>
<p>“We are trying very hard to get the message across that if you have a family member with macular disease, you have to be very vigilant and you have to have your eyes checked on a regular basis — every two years — and you have to make sure the specialist or the optician checks your macular,” Buttrose said to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/ita-buttrose-urging-families-with-history-of-macular-disease-to-get-their-eyes-checked/news-story/8f353ef02d703281bf7fdc5da1b2d0aa" target="_blank"><em>The Daily Telegraph</em></a>.</p>
<p>Buttrose has been personally impacted by the disease, as her beloved father Charles contracted the disease in his 70s and never recovered his eyesight before his passing in 1999.</p>
<p>“There were seven siblings in dad’s family and of the seven, four got macular degeneration, so you can see how hereditary it is,” she said.</p>
<p>“When dad was diagnosed, there was no Macular Disease Foundation, so I contacted the Royal Blind Society and I got every helpful device that I could find — things for phones, things that could make prints larger — whatever might help him.</p>
<p>“His great joy in life was reading the newspapers every morning and suddenly he couldn’t because you lose your central vision — your macular is what provides your central vision. It’s just behind the retina so it’s what enables you to read, to do fine needlework, distinguish faces, drive … All these sorts of things.”</p>
<p>She also explains that 1 in 7 Australians over the age of 50 display some sign of macular degeneration.</p>
<p>Her father’s brother, Gerald, has been luckier than his older sibling, but has also had over 100 injections to save his eye and his vision.</p>
<p>“My Uncle Gerald — he’s 96 in August — his vision was saved because we now have injections for wet macular. There are two types of macular, wet and dry — there is no treatment for dry. He managed to drive until he was 93, he’s given it up now, but he still reads, he still writes family histories.”</p>
<p>Due to Buttrose’s family history, she remains ever vigilant.</p>
<p>“I’m very vigilant. I get my macular checked every year because I know I am at risk because of the family history. The ophthalmologist always says, “Oh, your macular is pristine”, and it’s good, thank you.”</p>
<p>An eye examination once a year and a macular check every two years is a standard recommendation for those over 50 with a family history of the disease.</p>
