Macular Degeneration
Macular Degeneration
The macula
is the center of the retina, and is the location where light rays focus when entering the eye. With macular degeneration, this area starts to deteriorate, causing difficulty with central vision, such as reading fine print or seeing details on a person’s face. Your eye doctor can detect macular degeneration during your dilated eye examination.
There are two forms of macular degeneration: dry and wet. Dry macular degeneration causes thinning of the macula, which eventually gets too thin to function properly. This makes fine detail difficult at the beginning and even impossible to see later on. The dry form generally causes a slow, painless loss of vision. Neovascularization, or new blood vessels, forming near the macula indicate wet macular degeneration. This bleeding can cause scarring and swelling. The wet form often causes a rapid loss of vision, and early diagnosis and treatment is key to helping preserve vision.
If you are diagnosed with macular degeneration, your doctor will recommend eye vitamins that studies have shown can slow down the progression of dry macular degeneration. Dr. Hummel says, “If it’s good for your heart, it’s good for your eyes.” A balanced diet with dark green leafy vegetables, regular exercise, and no smoking are important for your entire body, including your eyes. There is a way to monitor your vision at home with an Amsler grid. Checking the Amsler grid daily, one eye at a time, can show the earliest sign of progression of macular degeneration. Even if you have the dry form, it can change to wet at any given time, so vigilance with this test at home can be the difference between preserving your vision or not. Please click here: AMSLER GRID
to print a copy.