What Causes Macular Degeneration?
Age-related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) causes you to lose your central vision.
You cannot see fine details, whether at something that is close or far. But your peripheral (side) vision will remain normal.
For instance, suppose you are looking at a clock with your hands. With ARMD, you may see the clock’s numbers but not the hands.
ARMD is ubiquitous. It is a leading cause of vision loss in people 50 or older.
Age-related Macular Degeneration is estimated to affect more than 8 million individuals in the United States.
Moreover, the advanced form of this condition affects 1.75 million individuals.
This article is a detail about the things which lead to Macular Degeneration.
What Causes Macular Degeneration
No one exactly knows the exact cause of dry macular degeneration. Researches also indicate that it can be a due to family genes and environmental factors like obesity, diet, and smoking.
Moreover, the condition develops with the aging of the eyes.
Risk factors
Listed below are some of the risk factors of macular degeneration.
Smoking
Smoking lowers the oxygen level in your body parts, including your eyes.
So if you have a smoking habit, you are more likely to get ARMD than the ones who don’t.
Heart disease
If you have a history of stroke, angina, or a heart attack, you are more prone to ARMD.
High cholesterol levels may also raise your risk.
Obesity
Studies suggest if your body mass index is over 30, your chances with ARMD are high. Although, there is nothing to prove this situation yet.
Spending time under the sun
If you expose your eyes to sunlight for a long time, there are chances for you to get ARMD. This is so because the ultraviolet rays produced by the sun are not suitable for your eyes.
Some other causes of ARMD are family history, aging, and poor diet.
Preventions
Performing routine eye examinations are essential to identify early symptoms of macular degeneration.
Following are the measures that may help you in reducing your risk of developing dry macular degeneration:
- Managing health conditions by following the advice of your healthcare provider
- Seek help from your healthcare provider for help to quit smoking
- Try to balance your weight according to your height
- Maintain a healthy diet that consists of vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables, along with fish
Also Read: You can go through the article Which Eye Vitamin is Best for Macular Degeneration?
Types of age-related macular degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration is an escalating eye condition. If a part of the retina called the macula is damaged, it gives rise to this condition.
You may not be able to identify the symptoms at an early stage. In contrast, more advanced stages of the condition can cause distortion.
In this situation, straight lines would appear wavy and blurring of central vision, affecting reading, recognizing faces, driving, and identifying colors.
Even though ARMD can get worse over time, going from early to late stages, it never makes you utterly blind because your side vision stays normal.
ARMD is of two types, dry and wet.
Dry ARMD
85-90 percent of people are diagnosed with dry ARMD, making it the most common form.
Small yellow deposits known as drusen which appear on your retina, cause dry AMD.
These are accumulated waste products of the retina, which can grow in size.
This can kill the cells in the macula of the retina that process light, making it hard to see. Most of the time, this type of disease gets worse slowly.
Dry ARMD consists of three stages:
Early stage
People who are in the early stage of dry ARMD have small drusens or some medium size drusens.
There is no vision loss at this stage, and you won’t see any symptoms either.
Intermediate stage
People may not be witnessing any symptoms at this stage. But individuals can see a blurred spot in the center of their vision.
Individuals at this stage also need extra lighting to read and perform other tasks.
Advanced stage
In the late stage of dry AMD, also called Geographic Atrophy (GA), the fovea, or the center of one’s vision, is affected.
At this point, large areas of damaged tissue create blind spots in the center of the eye. A person may need help to read or recognize faces well.
Wet ARMD
When new abnormal blood vessels are grown under the retina, it is known as Wet ARMD.
These blood vessels can leak blood or other fluids, which can cause the macula to scar. You lose your sight more quickly with wet ARMD than with dry ARMD.
Many people don’t know they have ARMD until they can’t see well. This is why it’s essential to see an eye doctor regularly.
They can look for early signs of ARMD before your eyesight worsens.
Takeaway
Now, we clearly understand the causes of muscular degeneration, and this is an escalating condition after a certain age.
Moreover, the two types of age-related macular degeneration are of two types. But if they are recognized at the right time, they can be treated.
Every individual should take measures like drinking and smoking to escape this condition.
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