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Macular Degeneration
The patient doesn’t lose vision completely, as the disorder doesn’t generally affect the peripheral vision and colour vision. But he or she will have a distorted or blank area in the centre of their vision, just like looking through spectacles with water droplets on their lenses’ centre. The droplets are clear at first but steadily become murky. This common dry macular degeneration generally progresses slowly. An eye specialist often discovers these deposits before they affect the vision. Much more serious and rapid is the wet macular degeneration. Here, leaking and bleeding blood vessels grow underneath the macula, lifting it up and causing nerve cells to die.
The loss of vision can’t be repaired but certain precautions, such as UV radiation protection, improved fitness and a healthy lifestyle and diet can slow the progress. A surgical technique called laser photocoagulation may be able to destroy or block some of the leaking blood vessels before they become harmful. A new drug therapy aims for the same target. Also, some optical devices may help to shift the centre of vision to unaffected areas.
You need the macula, the central vision, to read, write, drive and watch television.
In other words, the macula provides you with the ability to see fine details. Macular
degeneration is an irreversible damage to the light-
Age is the main risk factor in macular degeneration. One estimate puts the number of affected US citizens at approximately 10% of people in the 52 to 65 age group. Around half of the population over 75 has some form of macular degeneration. This number will rise with the overall increase in life expectancy.
Several other factors contribute to macular degeneration. The case against UV radiation, and most recently against blue light and violet light, is continually strengthening. Bright light straight from the sun, or from reflective surfaces such as the ocean, snow or sand will ‘age’ the macula. It also doesn’t help to be a male smoker with a fair complexion, to be on certain medications, or to have parents and grandparents with macular degeneration.
Human eye cross section
Source: Wikipedia