| Macular degeneration is an eye condition that | | | | vast majority of patients with ARMD have the |
| affects the retina. It is a silent and painless loss of | | | | dry form, but a small minority, around 10 -15%, |
| central vision due to the degeneration or dying of | | | | of patients, go on to develop the wet form. |
| cells in a small, but critical spot in the retina, called | | | | The prognosis for this eye condition is different |
| the macula. | | | | for every body and... different for each eye. For |
| The macula is responsible for our straight ahead | | | | the majority of people, age related macular |
| vision and our sharp, detailed vision. When the cells | | | | degeneration progresses slowly and affects only |
| of the macula begin to degenerate or die | | | | ones central vision. It is not blindness. But the loss |
| symptoms of macular degeneration occur. | | | | of central or straight ahead vision results in |
| Some of the symptoms of dry ARMD are: | | | | difficulty reading, driving, and in performing tasks |
| 1) Blurred vision | | | | and hobbies. |
| 2) Loss of color perception | | | | At this time there is no standard treatment for |
| 3) Loss of detailed or sharp vision | | | | dry AMD. There are several clinical trials in |
| 3) Difficulty seeing at night | | | | progress looking to see if early intervention will |
| Vision loss in the dry form of this retinal disease is | | | | help slow the progression of vision loss. However, |
| usually more gradual and not as severe as the | | | | there is plenty of research that supports the role |
| wet form. But almost everyone who has the wet | | | | of diet and nutrition in the prevention and |
| form of AMD started out with the dry form. The | | | | progression of macular degeneration. |