As the macula continues to deteriorate, symptoms include: What are the symptoms of age-related macular degeneration?ĭuring the first stages of AMD, many patients experience little to no symptoms and may not even realize that there is an issue at all. If not addressed early on, wet AMD can lead to permanent vision loss. These blood vessels break, leak fluid, and bleed into the macula. Wet AMD is a serious condition in which abnormal blood vessels grow in the macula. If left untreated, dry AMD can transition into wet AMD. As the amount and size of drusen increases, it becomes more likely for a patient to develop advanced macular degeneration. Drusen are yellowish deposits of fatty cellular debris that build up under the retina.Īs we age, small amounts of small-sized drusen accumulate under the retina naturally. One of the most common signs of dry AMD is the presence of a higher than normal amount of drusen under the retina. The vast majority of patients who have AMD have the dry type, which is, fortunately, the less serious type. Types of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD): Dry and Wet This condition is called age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and it is the most common cause of vision loss in older adults in the US. As we get older, the macula can start to deteriorate and lose functionality. Every day, our eyes perform countless tasks that require the macula, including reading, driving, seeing color, and recognizing faces. The macula controls our sense of central vision and ability to see in fine detail. Cones are responsible for our ability to see sharp details while rods’ primary function is to convert light stimuli into neural signals that can be processed and understood by the brain and central nervous system.Īt the center of the retina is the macula, which contains a high concentration of cones. The retina contains millions of rods and cones, both of which provide highly specialized functions that enable our eyes to see. The back of the eye is lined by a thin layer of photosensitive tissue known as the retina.
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