An Overview of Macular Degeneration - By: AdamDouglas

Macular degeneration is a progressive disease of the retina wherein the light-sensing cells in the central area of vision stop working and eventually die. It is age related and is a comparatively serious eye problem, which may cause the loss of vision, or more specifically, the loss in the center of the visual field. That is to say, the eye still sees objects to the side, since side (peripheral vision) is usually not affected, however, you will feel hard to read, recognize people or even places because of the macular degeneration in the central vision.

There are two types of macular degeneration, the dry and the wet.

Dry macular degeneration, or nonexudative, comparing to wet macular degeneration, is a more common form of the diseases and accounts for 90% of all Aged-related Macular Degeneration. It is the debris, which is referred as Drusen, built up between the choroid and the retina that causes the symptoms of blindness, for the debris would make the retina detached. There are basically no treatment for dry macular degeneration, but you can find certain ways to learn to cope with it.

Wet macular degeneration, or exudative, is a less common form, accounting for about merely 10%, but it is more severe than the dry for. It is the blood vessels growing from the choroid that affects the vision. When more and more blood vessels growing behind the retina, one's vision becomes more and more blurry. There are treatments fro wet macular degeneration, either by medication or laser surgery. Normally, those measures can reverse the growth of the blood and make the condition less serious.

Then how can one judge that he or she is affected by macular degeneration, for there seems no well-defined symptom at the early stage. It only becomes noticeable as the condition worsens. One of the main measure is to observe whether there are yellow deposits in the macula, because it is the yellow deposits that make up the Drusen.

Therefore, to have an overall eye examination regularly is necessary, especially when you find there are symptoms include blurred vision, distorted vision, inability to discern color variations, delayed bright light exposure recovery, a decline in contrast sensitivity and central scotoma. For the cause of macular degeneration includes the growth of blood vessels, which have a possibility of blood leaking and bleeding, there may be ultimate damage that is irreversible.

What is more, if you have a family history of macular degeneration, you are among one of the candidates who have the risk of suffering from macular degeneration. Besides, things like Stargardt's disease, Drusen, Stargardt's disease, Drusen, Arg80GLY variant in C3 a complement protein, hypertension or high blood pressure, a diet high in fat, oxidative stress, a mutation in Fibulin-5, ethnic background and so on so forth have a potential risk for one to increase the risk of suffering from macular. You may not believe it that a diet high in fat, and exposure often to sunlight, particularly the blue light or high energy visible light are potential causes of macular degeneration.

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