Macular Degeneration

• Macular Degeneration Overview
• Macular Degeneration Causes
• Macular Degeneration Symptoms
• When to Seek Medical Care
• Questions to Ask the Doctor
• Exams and Tests
• Macular Degeneration Treatment
• Self-Care at Home
• Medical Treatment
• Medications
• Surgery
• Next Steps
• Follow-up
• Prevention
• Outlook
• Support Groups and Counseling
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• Related macular degeneration articles:
  Macular degeneration - on WebMD
  Macular degeneration - on MedicineNet

Macular Degeneration Overview

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.

Macular degeneration is caused when part of the retina deteriorates. The retina is the interior layer of the eye. The macula is the central portion of the retina and is responsible for detailed vision.

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.