Macular Degeneration Explained
Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the most common medical eye conditions, with around one in 50 people affected in the Western world. The condition is most prevalent in those over 50 years of age, but are there any precautions we can take, or is this just one of many inevitable signs of aging which we must just learn to accept?
What is AMD?
A medical condition which doesn’t cause total blindness, but results in a worryingly increased loss of central vision rather than peripheral, affecting many daily activities we often take for granted, such as the ability to read, write, drive and recognise faces.
AMD is categorised as being either ‘dry’ or ‘wet’, with dry the most common case of AMD which accounts for around 90% of diagnosed forms and increases in severity over many years. It is caused by atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelial layer below the retina, affecting the majority of ‘seeing cells’, including cone cells that help us see during the day, and rod cells enable a certain amount of version at night, and are mostly stored in the macular area of the eye. A fully functional communication to the brain via the optic nerve allows light to pass through the eye and focus on the macula area, which usually enables us to have healthy central vision so we can clearly see directly in front of us.
The wet form of the condition follows on from the dry type, developing more quickly and tends to be more severe, due to the growth of blood vessels around the retina which can leak, causing distortion and potential scarring.
Causes, Prevention and Treatment
Unfortunately we all eventually succumb to the unforgiving passage of time, and once we reach the age of 50, many of us will experience a certain amount of degeneration in the macular area, with symptoms requiring us to need brighter lighting conditions while reading, while words on a page may appear blurred even while wearing glasses.
The likely causes of AMD are thought to vary between predisposed genetic factors, as well as environmental stresses on our eyes which manifest into overall poorer eye condition as we get older. Lifestyle factors such as smoking, high blood pressure and being overweight increase the likelihood of developing AMD many times over, while a healthy vitamin C and E zinc based diet may slow down the rate of degeneration.
At present there is no definitive treatment for dry AMG, although drugs and certain treatments including anti-angiogenic medication to stop unwanted blood vessel growth and laser based therapies go some way to delaying or possibly preventing wet AMD from increasing in severity.
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