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What is Macular Degeneration |
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Macular degeneration is a disorder that includes a variety of eye diseases that affect central vision. Central vision is what you see directly in front of you rather than what you see at the side (or periphery) of your vision. |
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| Author: Macular Degeneration Association |
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Age-related macular degeneration is the most common type of macular degeneration and is the leading cause of legal blindness in people older than 55 years in the United States. Age-related macular degeneration affects more than 1.75 million individuals in the United States. Owing to the rapid aging of the U.S. population, this number is expected to increase to almost 3 million by 2020. Because overall life expectancy continues to increase, age-related macular degeneration has become a major public health problem.
There are two types of age-related macular degeneration:
Dry (atrophic) form: This type results from the gradual breakdown of cells in the macula, resulting in a gradual blurring of central vision. 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.
Wet (exudative or neovascular) form: In the wet form, newly created abnormal blood vessels grow under the center of the retina. These blood vessels leak, bleed, and scar the retina, distorting vision or destroying central vision. Vision distortion usually starts in one eye and may affect the other eye later. In contrast to the dry type, vision loss may be rapid in the wet type of macular degeneration.
Wet macular degeneration affects only about 15% of people who have age-related macular degeneration but accounts for two-thirds of the people who have significant visual loss.
More than 200,000 new cases of wet age-related macular degeneration occur each year in the United States.
About Author
The Macular Degeneration Association is a nonprofit health organization providing Age-Related Macular Degeneration research, information and advocacy.
The mission of the organization is to cure Macular Degeneration and to improve the lives of all people affected by the disease.
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