Waterford Optician first to use new Medical Instrument to combat leading cause of blindness

Philip Major of Major Opticians in Waterford has become the first optician in Ireland to acquire the ‘MacuScope™’, a new medical instrument that will help to detect one of the major risk factors of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 50 years. This disease affects over 30 million people worldwide.

The MacuScope™’ is the first scientifically validated medical instrument commercially available on the market to allow eye care professionals (opticians) measure macular pigment levels in the eye. People with low macular pigment levels are at risk of developing AMD. With this new device, people at risk of developing AMD (e.g. cigarette smokers, people with a family history of AMD, people with poor diets lacking in fruits and vegetables), can now have their macular pigment level measured in order to screen for low levels of this protective dietary pigment, decades before disease onset.

Speaking about the MacuScope™, Philip Major of Major Opticians, The Quay, Waterford said, "Some of my own relatives have AMD and due to the research work carried out by the Macular Pigment Research Group (MPRG) at WIT, I am particularly conscious of the growing disease problem".

"Up to now, damage to the macula normally only shows when it’s too late. I see great benefit in using this machine to assess the levels of macular pigment from a very early age. In this way, people can either adjust their diets or take supplements if there are signs of a problem," he added.

Trevor McCormack, Managing Director of Macuvision Europe Ltd, said "People can now be screened proactively for the condition in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s making it possible to detect for AMD decades before symptoms present. Currently 70,000 people have AMD in Ireland and it is estimated that more than 200,000 people have not yet been diagnosed." Dr John Nolan, Deputy Director of the MPRG in WIT, whose PhD study on preventative measures for AMD ‘Determinants of Macular Pigment in Healthy Subjects’ was the largest cross-sectional study of its type in the world, said: "The centre of the retina, known as the macula, is responsible for central vision. As we get older, blue light and free radicals damage central vision, and can cause the commonest cause of age-related blindness in the western world, a condition known as AMD. People with AMD lose the ability to read, recognise faces, watch television, and drive, and therefore lose their independence.

There is a growing and compelling body of evidence that a lack of macular pigment in the eye increases an individual’s risk of developing AMD, and that appropriate supplements reduce one’s risk of this condition. Indeed, a recent study published by the MPRG at WIT has shown that people at risk of developing AMD, including older people, cigarette smokers and people with a family history of disease, are deficient in this important eye pigment. Nothing could be done for people at risk of developing AMD until now. Techniques available to measure macular pigment were confined to research laboratories such as the MPRG at WIT. The MacuScope™ is, therefore, a major breakthrough for eye-care professionals in enabling them to help people detect and guard against this devastating eye disease," he said. The MacuScope™’ will be sold exclusively to opticians and optometrists around Ireland. In conjunction with the MacuScope™, Major Opticians also stock a new patented supplement ‘MacuShield™’, a formulation of nutrients that help increase macular pigment levels to maintain normal eye-function and protect against AMD.

To make an appointment contact: Philip Major, Major Opticians, Clyde House, The Quay, Waterford. Tel: 051 874392 or Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it