This area, called themacula, is responsible for your ability to see fine details.

However, side vision usually remains intact.

It will also highlight what to know about progression and more.

Older person getting an eye exam

FG Trade / Getty Images

They have significant differences.

Dry AMD is the slower form of the disease.

Vision loss may be mild in some cases and more significant in others.

Inwet AMD, abnormal blood vessels develop in the eye.

These can leak onto the retina, causing macular scarring.

Macular Degeneration Symptoms

The visual symptoms you have with macular degeneration will depend upon the bang out.

Here is what you’re able to expect from each.

Early on, there may not even be any symptoms.

The good news is that this dry form can take a long time to advance.

Those age 75 and over face a 1 in 3 chance of developing AMD.

They do know that the macula begins to break down due to errors in the way the body functions.

While scientists haven’t identified a specific gene with macular degeneration, they believe a genetic component exists.

AMD tends to run in families.

Seven genetic regions appear to be associated with macular degeneration.However, these are not just on one chromosome.

At its core, Stargardt’s disease involves mutations in the ABCA4 gene.

This condition results in central vision loss and affects about 30,000 people.

The Amsler grid resembles a piece of graph paper with a dot in the center.

The idea is to look for lines that appear missing, distorted, or wavy on a daily basis.

you’re able to report any changes to your ophthalmologist as soon as you detect them.

While you will likely never lose your peripheral vision with AMD, your central vision is at risk.

With dry macular degeneration, such vision loss may take several years.

But with the wet form, this may occur over a few months unless you promptly undergo treatment.

If you have the wet form, youcan be treatedwith anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections.

These can help to keep abnormal new blood vessels from developing.

But the vision already lost may come back minimally or may not come back at all.

Another possible treatment is photodynamic therapy.

With this, your ophthalmologist injects into your arm a light-sensitive medicine.

This collects in abnormal blood vessels in the eye.

Then they use a laser to seal any abnormal blood vessels in your retina.

But this has yet to prove very successful.

you could also learn to better use what vision you have with low-vision devices and vision rehab services.

This shows up when new abnormal blood vessels grow under the macula, leak, and cause damage.

This conversion only happens in 10% to 15% of people.

When it does, the switch to wet AMD usually occurs late in the condition.

Can You Prevent Macular Degeneration?

The best sunglasses are large and wrap around the sides of the face.

A low-vision exam is different from your regular eye exam.

Outlook

While there is no cure for AMD, thepush for sight-saving new treatments continues.

These initiate the gamut from retinal cell transplants to gene therapy to chip implants to simulate vision.

All this means that for those contending with this condition, the outlook has never been better.

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