|
 

 
|
 



ARMD is a type of disease which causes the progressive damage to macula (the center part
retina that permits us for seeing fine details). Once the macula deteriorates, persons can
experience the blurredness or darkness at the center of their visualization.

The macular degeneration can lead to the loss of central vision that is very much needed for
important activities such as driving, reading and recognition of faces. Peripheral sight is
generally preserved into macular degeneration, hence, blindness do not normally occur even
to the advanced stage of macular disease. On the other hand, central vision looses impairs
ability on performing most of the activities in the everyday living and causes more difficulties
for the person to live through independent lives.

2 forms of macular degeneration:

Atrophic or Dry Macular - it is the common form of this disease and reports for 90 percent of
the total AMD. Classic laceration in this dry macular is called the Geographic atrophy that
causes harsh center visual loss. It has no available treatment; laser or others that can stop or
overturn the persisting progression of the dry macular degeneration that is related to visual
loss. The sign of lesion that can lead to the progress of Geographic atrophy was a small
yellow-colored macular lesion known as "drusen"

Neovascular or Wet Macular - it is the less common form but it is also the most severe
compared to the dry form. It reports at roughly 10 percent of the total AMD but 90 percent from
all the blindness caused by the disease. It is portrayed by choroidal neovascularization also
known as the CNV, the progress of the blood vessels that are abnormal underneath the RPE
layer of retina.
Development of the Macular Degeneration

Drusen develops from harder form to soft. It multiplies in number, sizes and joins
together to finally develop into dry or wet degeneration of macular. In addition the
pigment changes takes place into the retina, and the danger of developing the dry and
then wet macular will increase noticeably.

All in all, the danger of the development of macular disease is powerfully dependent to
ages and the stages of age-relating maculophaty. As a result, the person at 80 years and
older has a very high risk in developing the macular degeneration after the next five
years.

The risk in early development of maculopathy is then depending to the ages. Once you
have a normal retina, after five years the risk of developing the retinal changes of
maculopathy is approximately 0.7 percent if you are 60 years or less and 22.5 percent if
you are above 80 years old.

When one eye is suffering from macular degeneration, the other one is also at a very
high risk of developing the disease as well. The danger of the other eye that is
developing macular degeneration has been reported to about 55 percent into the AREDS
and about 38 percent at the Rotterdam Study.

Comparison of data from the diverse studies show that the risk in mounting macular
degeneration was higher at the US compared to the European populace.