On Monday, I had an appointment with a vitrioretinol specialist here at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The purpose was a screening for age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) since there is a strong familial disposition for the disease. With no trepidation, I underwent the preliminary procedures of local anesthetic and dilation drops. A very nice resident, Dr. Lin, introduced himself and proceeded to shine a much-too-bright light into each eye. Although I did present with "drusen" (small bright structures seen in the retina and in the optic disc. Origin: Ger. Pl. Of druse, stony nodule, geode), the very nice resident told me that the drusen was diffuse and that I definitely did not have ARMD. I greeted his professional opinion with alacrity and bade him adieu. Drusen is thought to be a precusor or contributor to ARMD .....but, not necessarily. Next entered Dr. Hariprasad, the esteemed attending physician, and much senior in both status and experience than the aforementioned, Dr. Lin. We repeated the routine with the bright light. The good doctor then rendered his diagnosis.............."you definitely have macular degeneration!" The good news..........."of the 3000 plus patients that I see each year with macular degeneration, you are in the top two percent!" He sent me on my way with instructions to take a Centrum Silver each day and to return for follow-up in one year. And so, though I have received the dreaded diagnosis, I currently suffer none of the symptoms of this unfortunate disease. And, so it goes......... The specialist did say that anyone with familial history of ARMD should have screenings, by a specialist, beginning at age 50.