| ar Degeneration is an eye disease that is often | | | | impairments. It is thought that the dry form is |
| age related. Not much is known about the causes | | | | caused by thinning of the tissue in the macula. |
| of this disease. How it effects the eye is known. | | | | The wet form may be caused by leakage of |
| Risk factors have also been determined. Although | | | | blood and fluid into the retina. |
| many treatments are in the early stages there | | | | Since little is known about what exactly causes |
| are some treatments that have helped people. | | | | macular degeneration it is hard to prevent it, but |
| Studies and work against the effects of macular | | | | there are some guidelines that have been |
| degeneration continue. | | | | developed on risk factors that may contribute to |
| Macular degeneration is a deterioration of the | | | | the disease. The following list is of those risk |
| macula. The macula is at the center of the retina. | | | | factors. |
| The retina is the part of the eye that sends visual | | | | - smoking |
| images to the brain so a person can see. This | | | | - age |
| damage to the macula results in blind spots, blurry | | | | - gender (women are at more of a risk) |
| or distorted vision. This disease is one of the | | | | - family history |
| major visual disease in the United States. | | | | - high cholesterol |
| There is not a lot known about macular | | | | - race (Caucasians are at more of a risk) |
| degeneration. What is known, however is that it is | | | | - exposure to ultraviolet light (less is better) |
| closely linked with aging. There has also been a link | | | | These are just factors that have been studied |
| found between the disease and a gene variant | | | | and shown to play a part in increasing the risk of |
| called complement factor H or CFH. Macular | | | | developing the disease. |
| degeneration has two forms: dry or wet. Dry or | | | | There is no cure for macular degeneration. Many |
| non-nonvascular macular degeneration is the most | | | | medicines and treatments are still in the beginning |
| common and occurs in 85% to 90% of diagnosis. | | | | stages of being studied. If you carry a high risk |
| Wet or nonvascular macular degeneration is a | | | | the best chance of dealing with the disease is |
| rarer form that results in the worst vision | | | | getting regular eye exams. |