What is Macular Degeneration and Its Screening Process?

What is Macular Degeneration?

Macular degeneration is an eye disease that worsens over time. It is a primary cause of severe and permanent vision loss in people over 60. Macular degeneration occurs when a tiny central portion of your retina called the macula wears down. The light-sensing nerve tissue at the back of your eye is the retina.

As macular degeneration occurs as you get older, it is often called age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Generally, it doesn’t cause blindness but leaves you with severe vision problems. Young children and adults might also get affected by juvenile macular degeneration.

Macular Degeneration Symptoms

You may not have any noticeable signs of macular degeneration early. Getting the condition diagnosed until it worsens or affects both eyes is challenging. The symptoms of macular degeneration include worsening or unclear vision. You might have blurry vision making it challenging for you to read or drive. You might also have dark and blurry areas in the center of your vision. Rarely you might experience worse or different color perception. If you experience any of the symptoms described, you must schedule an appointment with an optometrist near you right away.

Macular Degeneration Causes

Age-related macular degeneration is more common among the older population. In adults over 60, AMD is the leading cause of severe vision loss. Macular degeneration has genetic causes, and if someone in your family has the condition, you might be at risk of developing it.

High blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, consuming plenty of saturated fat, being light-skinned, female, smoking, and having light eye colors are also risk factors for macular degeneration.

Macular Degeneration Screening Process

Routine eye exams help spot age-related macular degeneration. The most common early sign of this condition is drusen tiny spots beneath your retina, also called pigment clumping. Macular degeneration screening can visualize the spots when they examine your eyes.

The professional from our Mahogany eye clinic might ask you to look at an Amsler grid resembling a chequerboard with a pattern of straight lines. Some of the straight lines might appear wavy, or you may fail to notice some lines. These are indicators of macular degeneration.

If your doctor finds age-related macular degeneration, they might recommend an angiography or an OCT. During the angiography, the professional injects dye into a vein in your arm. They capture pictures of the dye as it flows through the blood vessels in your retina. If new vessels are detected, or you have vessels leaking fluid or blood in the macula, the pictures will display the exact location and type. OCT can detect fluid or blood beneath your retina without dye.

You must see your doctor frequently to detect the early signs of macular degeneration. Treatment received for the condition can slow it or make it less severe.

Treatments for Macular Degeneration

No treatments are available for macular degeneration. Any treatment you receive merely slows down the condition to prevent you from losing most of your vision. Your options for treating macular degeneration include laser therapy, photodynamic laser therapy, low vision aids, and anti-angiogenesis drugs. Anti-angiogenesis drugs block the creation of blood vessels and leak from them to cause wet macular degeneration. Many people ingesting these drugs managed to recover some lost vision. Therefore you might need to have these drugs repeatedly. Experimental studies are ongoing by researchers for macular degeneration, including submacular surgery and retinal translocation. However, as research is still continuing, the new treatments may not be available in the current stages.

Outlook for Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration rarely causes complete vision loss. People confront challenges with their central vision, but it doesn’t hold them back from completing their normal daily activities. Generally, using your peripheral vision will not be a challenge.

The dry form of age-related macular degeneration tends to worsen gradually, ensuring you can keep most of your vision. Unfortunately, the wet form of macular degeneration causes permanent vision loss. If you have it in both eyes, it can impact your quality of life.

Wet macular degeneration needs repeated treatments. Therefore you must test your vision frequently and follow and suggestions your doctor provides.

If you are affected by the symptoms of macular degeneration and looking for macular degeneration screening in Calgary, kindly schedule testing at Premier Eye Care — Mahogany to ensure early detection of macular degeneration if affected by the condition.