Age Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration, or age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is an eye disorder that blurs your central vision. Due to aging, the macula is damaged, which is part of your eye that controls the sharpness of straight-ahead vision.
Always have your eyes checked by the best eye doctor in Brooklyn. To know more about age macular degeneration, visit us at Doral Health and Wellness Ophthalmology Center.
AMD is one of the common conditions that causes vision loss in older adults. AMD doesn’t cause complete blindness but can cause severe vision problem that makes it hard for you to see faces, read, drive, or do things up close like cooking or fixing things.
There is another form of macular degeneration known as Stargardt disease or juvenile macular degeneration, that affects children and young adults.
Types of Macular Degeneration
There are two types of AMD.
- Dry AMD – this is the common type of AMD, also called atrophic AMD. Its cause is unknown though both genetic and environmental factors play a role. This type of AMD gradually progresses over the years. This happens when the light-sensitive cells in your macula slowly breaks down, one eye at a time. There is no treatment available for dry AMD.
- Wet AMD – also called advanced neovascular AMD, that causes faster vision loss. Dry AMD can turn to wet AMD, which is always the late stage. This happens when abnormal blood vessels grow at the back of your eye and damage your macula. Wet AMD has available treatment options.
Symptoms
In the early stages of AMD, signs and symptoms can go unnoticed. But the following are the most common symptoms of age-related macular. Symptoms may include:
- Blurry and fuzzy vision
- Difficulty recognizing faces
- Visual distortions, such as straight lines appear wavy
- Loss of central vision
- Needs brighter light when reading or doing things up-close
Treatment
Although there is no cure for AMD, but treatment for this condition can help slow it down and will help keep you from losing too much vision. Treatment options may include:
- Anti-angiogenesis drugs – these are drugs used to block the creation of blood vessels and leaking from your eye’s vessel that causes wet AMD
- Laser therapy – high energy laser light can destroy abnormal blood vessels from growing in your eyes
- Photodynamic laser therapy – this is a light-sensitive drug injected into your bloodstream, that gets absorbed by the abnormal blood vessels. Your doctor will then shine a laser into your eyes to trigger the medication to damage the abnormal blood vessels
- Low vision aids – these are devices that have a special lens or electronic systems to create larger images of nearby things. This makes people with AMD like you make the most of your remaining vision.
If you have AMD, you will rarely lose all of your vision. You can still do many normal daily activities even if your central vision is in bad shape. Usually, even if you have AMD, you can still use your peripheral vision.
If you experience any signs and symptoms, though it may also be a sign of other eye conditions, you should contact our ophthalmologist to immediately book for an appointment. There is no substitute for the quality of life that a good vision can offer. So, taking care of your eye health is very important.
At Doral Health and Wellness Ophthalmology Center, our ophthalmologist will help you diagnose your eye conditions and find the best treatment course fit for you. We aim to provide the best quality eye care services in Brooklyn. To book an appointment with our specialist, you can visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11212, or call us at 1-347-384-5690. You can also visit our website at https://www.ophthalmologybrooklyn.com and book an appointment online.