What is it?

This disease forms when the macula, found in the in the back of the eye on the retina, suffers any damage, such as internal vessel rupture, and begins to deteriorate. The macula is the area where light is focused and is the center of your vision so any damage that occurs here will directly affect your central vision. Serious damage can cause a complete loss of the central vision, while the peripheral vision still remains.

	hold your mouse over the photo to see through the eyes of AMD

What causes it?

This disease is thought to be age related. Senior citizens are those most likely to acquire macular degeneration. There are two types of macular degeneration you can get: dry and wet.

The dry form (non-neovascular) accounts for 90% of this disease. It usually forms in one eye and forces the other eye to take over more of the central vision. This form is usually a slower process that causes yellow tissue, called drusen, to appear in the retina.

The wet form (neovascular) is caused when new small blood vessels form, rupture, and bleed under the retina due to it their fragility. This can lead to a drastic loss of central vision.

Symptoms

Treatment

In some cases, poor nutrition has been linked to development of this disease, especially deficiencies in zinc, which is found in the retina. Lasers can be used in wet cases to stop any further growth by breaking up scars and relieving hemorrhages, but there is no cure for the disease. Treatment may include eating lots of green leaf vegetables, exercising regularly, not smoking, wearing sunglasses to protect yourself from ultraviolet light that can damage the retina, and using the Amsler grid (below) to track the progression of the disease so that you may tell your doctor. Patients who have AMD see wavy, lighter, and blurry lines in the Amsler grid when staring at the center dot with each eye separately, 1½ ft. away.

Amsler Grid

grid courtesy of www.stlukeseye.com

 

Index of Diseases