Macular degeneration is quite common

In this blog post, you can read more about age-related eye disease, macular degeneration, which is currently the most common cause of visual impairment. It is an age-related eye disease because the risk of developing this condition increases with age, and it therefore occurs most often in the elderly population.

What is macular degeneration?

As mentioned, macular degeneration is an age-related eye disease that damages the part of the retina where sharp vision is formed. It has been given this somewhat peculiar name after the part of the retina that it damages, namely the macula. It is this part of the retina that ensures that we receive detailed and clear images of the object or person we are focusing on. A distinction is made between a wet version of the disease and a dry version. In approximately 80% of cases, it is the “dry” version, which slowly leads to reduced vision and loss of visual function in some areas. The “wet” version is a more severe form of macular degeneration, which often develops more rapidly and can result in greater vision loss than the dry version.

Symptoms of macular degeneration

When affected by macular degeneration, the light-sensitive sensory cells in particular are broken down, resulting in objects and people becoming blurred or losing their color completely. People affected by macular degeneration will often initially experience a spot in the center of their field of vision, which can later develop into several dark or “empty” areas in the center of their field of vision. Vision loss will often worsen over weeks to months in the dry form, while in the wet form it occurs much more acutely.

Treatment of macular degeneration

There is no cure for the dry form of macular degeneration. Instead, treatment focuses on helping patients live better lives with impaired vision. This may involve optical aids, advice on lighting, and similar measures. In cases of wet macular degeneration, there is also no cure, but here the treatment aims to keep the symptoms stable and at the same time stop the deterioration of the retinal damage. This is done either with laser treatment or via intravitreal antiangiostatic treatment. If you experience any of the above symptoms, you should contact your doctor immediately and be referred to an ophthalmologist for a correct diagnosis.