Macular degeneration is one of the common eye diseases that bother a large number of people worldwide and it is especially common among aging people. However, people do not know much about this eye disorder. The following will give a brief introduction on macular degeneration on its definition, causes and main types in the hope that it will give people more understanding of this eye disease.
Macular degeneration refers to the lost of the central portion of the sight. Patients with macular degeneration will have to suffer from peripheral or side vision. For example, the things right in front of you will be like the face of a person or the words in a book. Though this is not blindness, it can never be neglected.
Then what causes macular degeneration? There are three layers below the retina, which are the retinal pigment epithelium (PRE), bruch’s membrane and the choroi. Their function is to transmit nutrients and oxygen to the rods and cones, and also remove the built-up waste. But for people with macular degeneration, these three layers lose their functions so that less nutrients and oxygen can be transmitted to the cells and wastes gathers. Cone cells are the primary cells for macula, which plays the role of clear vision, color distinguishing and central vision. That is to say, without them, we can not see clearly of small details, or distinguish similar colors. Just imagine if cone cells can not get enough nutrients and oxygen and more wastes build up, what they will be? Yes, cone cells will begin to die. As a result, people will lose their clear and central vision.
About the categories of macular degeneration, there are usually three main types: The first is dry macular degeneration (dry AMD). This is mainly related to age. Among all the age related macular degeneration, dry AMD is the most common one. It has the feature of more gradual vision loss rather than severe vision loss. Besides, there is also another macular degeneration, called wet macular degeneration (wet AMD). Compared with dry AMD, the central vision loss of wet AMD is more sudden. Though it is not as common as dry AMD, we should also pay close attention as dry AMD can also transfer to wet AMD. The last main macular degeneration is juvenile macular degeneration (JMD), which is also known as macular dystrophy. This is mainly caused by genetic diseases and can be detected in people’s childhood or adolescence.
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