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What is macular degeneration?
It is a common eye disease that results in the loss of a person's sharp, central vision - vision required for reading, driving and sewing. Often called age-related macular degeneration (AMD) because of its association with aging, AMD is the leading cause of vision loss and blindness in Americans over age 50.
How does AMD affect vision?
Inside the center of the retina, a tiny area called the macula helps produce sharp, central vision. The
macula allows us to see tiny detail, read fine print, recognize faces and see street signs.
AMD occurs in two forms - "dry" and "wet."
1. Dry AMD: Ninety percent of all people with AMD have this type. Scientists still are not sure what
causes dry AMD, in which there is a slow breakdown of light-sensing cells in the macula and a gradual loss of central vision. There is no treatment for "dry" AMD.
2. Wet AMD: Although only 10 percent of all people with AMD have this type, it accounts for 90 percent of all blindness from the disease. As dry AMD worsens, new, fragile blood vessels grow beneath the macula. These new blood vessels often leak blood and fluid, causing rapid damage to the macula and quickly leading to loss of central vision.
What are the symptoms?
Both dry and wet AMD cause no pain. The most common early sign of dry AMD is blurred vision. The classic early symptom of wet AMD is distortion - straight lines appear crooked. There may be other changes in vision: you may notice that the size of an object appears different for each eye or that colors don't look the same for each eye.
Risk factors for AMD
Age - Although AMD may occur during middle age, studies show that people over age 60 are clearly at greater risk than other age groups.
Gender - Women tend to be at greater risk than men.
Race - Whites are much more likely to lose vision from AMD than Blacks.
Smoking - Smoking may increase the risk of AMD.
Family History - Those with immediate family members who have AMD are at higher risk of developing the disease.
How can you protect your vision?
If you are age 60 or older, you should have your eyes examined through dilated pupils at least once a year. At home, one simple way to to detect even the slightest changes in central vision when they first appear is to use a test called the Amsler Grid. Available free from the Sight & Hearing Association, this piece of paper features a checkerboard pattern with a black dot in the middle. An area of the Amsler Grid will appear distorted if there are any signs of AMD.
Other facts you should know
About 1.7 million people in the United States are legally blind and are unable to read, drive, watch
television or recognize faces because of macular degeneration. More than 11 million have signs of the disease, and 200,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Those numbers are expected to grow with the aging of the "baby boomers."
For more information or to obtain an Amsler Grid to test for AMD, contact the Sight & Hearing Association.
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