There are many medical conditions that we can experience as we age. Some lifestyles and eating routines can prevent some of these diseases and disorders, but sometimes that occur anyway. When this happens, the focus becomes important on treatment and prevention of damage. One of these diseases is that of macular degeneration. This is a degeneration of the eye and it can cause symptoms such as vision loss, blindness and eye pain. The type of treatment will depend on how severe the macular degeneration is and on how quickly it is progressing.
There are three stages of AMD (early AMD, intermediate AMD and late AMD) defined in part by the size and number of drusen under the retina. It is possible ot have AMD in one eye only or to have one eye with a later stage of AMD than the other one. In many cases, the treatment may differ between the two different eyes, depending on the extent of the eye disease.
There are many causes of AMD. It has shown to be highly genetic, making it more likely to develop macular degeneration if someone in the family has had it. There is a list of associated genes with AMD. Presence of these genes does not guarantee the development of AMD, but those with AMD tend to have a few of these genetic markers. Other things can contribute to the development of AMD, such as poor eating habits, lack of exercise and smoking.
Each case of AMD is different, depending on the individual and their specific genetic and lifestyle factors. Someone with early AMD may never develop intermediate or advanced AMD. It all depends on their specific disease. Not everyone with early AMD will develop late AMD. For people who have early AMD in one eye and no signs of AMD in the other eye, about 5% will develop advanced AMD after 10 years. For people who have early AMD in both eyes, about 14% will develop late AMD in at least one eye in 10 years. With prompt detection of AMD, there are steps you can take to further reduce your risk of getting AMD in both eyes.
There are also different types of macular degeneration, which factors into the macular degeneration treatment in California or whether or not vitrectomy surgery will be an option. Macular degeneration is diagnosed as either dry (non neovasular) or wet (neovasular). Neovascular refers to growth of new blood vessels in an area, such as the macula, where they are not supposed to be. The dry form is more common than the wet form, with about 85 to 90% of AMD patients diagnosed with dry AMD. The wet form of the disease usually leads to more serious vision loss. It may also require more extensive macular degeneration treatment.
When macular degeneration is noticed, it is important to work with your medical provider on treatment options. The main goal of treatment is to slow down the progression of the degeneration. It is likely that you will have to regularly visit with both your primary medical provider and your eye medical professional to prevent further damage to the eye.
There are many diseases and disorders that we can experience as we get older. It is important to stay on top of these diseases to prevent further damage or the progression of the disease. Macular degeneration is a disease of the eye that can lead to vision loss and blurred and painful eyes. There are different levels of the macular degeneration and the treatment options will depend on how far the disease has progressed. It is also possible to have different levels of the degeneration is each eye.