1 post tagged “what is macular degeneration”

Macular degeneration affects your central vision, but not your peripheral vision; thus it doesn't cause total blindness. Still, the loss of clear central vision — critical for reading, driving, recognizing people's faces and doing detail work — greatly affects your quality of life. The condition tends to develop as you get older, hence the "age-related" part of its name. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of severe vision loss in people age 60 and older.

Few people are aware that macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease and that it is the leading cause of blindness for those aged 55 and older in the United States, affecting more than 10 million Americans. Macular degeneration is caused by the deterioration of the central portion of the retina, the inside back layer of the eye that records the images we see and sends them via the optic nerve from the eye to the brain. The retina's central portion, known as the macula, is responsible for focusing central vision in the eye, and it controls our ability to read, drive a car, recognize faces or colors, and see objects in fine detail.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common eye disease that causes deterioration of the macula, the central area of the retina, the paper-thin tissue at the back of the eye where light-sensitive cells send visual signals to the brain. Sharp, clear, “straight ahead” vision is processed by the macula. Damage to the macula results in the development of blind spots and blurred or distorted vision. When the macula becomes damaged, many daily activities such as driving and reading become increasingly difficult. AMD usually affects individuals older than 50 years of age, and scientific evidence shows that genes may play a role in the development of nearly three out of four cases of this devastating eye disease.

Once dry AMD reaches the advanced stage, no form of treatment can prevent vision loss. However, treatment can delay and possibly prevent intermediate AMD from progressing to the advanced stage, in which vision loss occurs.  The National Eye Institute's Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) found that taking a specific high-dose formulation of antioxidants and zinc significantly reduces the risk of advanced AMD and its associated vision loss. Slowing AMD's progression from the intermediate stage to the advanced stage will save the vision of many people.

Multiple, small, round, yellow-white spots called drusen are the key identifiers for the dry type. The spots are located in the back of the eye at the level of the outer retina and are detected by examination of the retina with an ophthalmoscope Spots typically become visible when a person reaches his or her late 30s or older. People with these spots may have excellent vision and no symptoms. Most people with age-related macular degeneration begin with the dry form. The dry form of macular degeneration is much more common than the wet form.

Most people with macular degeneration have the dry form. In fact, macular degeneration almost always starts out as the dry form. The dry form may initially affect only one eye but, in most cases, both eyes eventually become involved. Dry macular degeneration occurs when the RPE cells begin to atrophy and lose their pigment. The normally uniform reddish color of the macula takes on a mottled appearance because of the patchy loss of pigment. Drusen, which look like yellow dots, are fatty-like deposits that appear under the light-sensing cells in the retina.