If you are over 50 years old, you need to be well informed about age-related macular degeneration. It is the leading cause of blindness in the United States and each year over 200,000 new cases are diagnosed.
Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the US. The “wet” form of the disease is responsible for 90% of severe loss of vision. Each year there are 200,000 new cases of the disease in the US alone.
Patients in their mid 70’s are most affected by this disease of the eye and it rarely strikes those under the age of 50. Though wet macular degeneration strikes people of all ethnic backgrounds, it is more prevalent in Caucasians.
There are two forms of macular degeneration; wet and dry. Let’s learn more about these forms, treatments and symptoms.
Dry Macular Degeneration
Dry macular degeneration is the most common type of the disease. When you suffer from dry macular degeneration your optometrist will look into your eye and see that the retina has become distorted, pigmented or thinned. Once the retina has disappeared, it can never be reversed. It’s very similar to the retina having a hole in the center.
Dry macular degeneration is a very slow progressive disease. Patients lose central vision at a slow pace and most patients retain most of their vision. Dry macular degeneration doesn’t usually cause blindness, but does substantially decrease the central vision.
Wet Macular Degeneration
This disease is a far worse form than the “dry” type. People with wet macular degeneration develop abnormal blood cells under the retina of their eye. These blood cells are like wires that have bad insulation. They leak fluid, blood and fats into the retina. When eye-care professionals look into the eye of patients with this disease, they see fluid, fats and/or red blood cells.
Like any other wound, the blood and fluid will dry up eventually, but instead of healing, a scar is left in the macula of the eye. This causes the patient to have a black or gray spot in the central vision. Then, after multiple episodes and layers of scar tissue, the eye loses even more of its vision. More occurrences of leakage into the macula allow the disease progress quickly. Treatment cannot repair new scar formation and only gives temporary help to patients.