Age Related Macular Degeneration:  Who is at Risk?

Aside from affecting older patients there are others who present with a higher risk.  Caucasians and women are at higher risk for age related macular degeneration (AMD).  The risk is increased for both the wet or dry type of AMD.  There is also growing evidence that AMD has a genetic link and tends to occur more frequently in some families.

There are other known factors that increase the likelihood of developing AMD.  These risks include obesity, smoking, and hypertension (high blood pressure).  Additionally patients with lighter colored eyes (iris) appear to have a higher incidence of AMD.  Having a direct family member with AMD appears to increase the probability that a person can develop AMD.  Both exposure to direct sunlight and UV rays along with a diet that is high in fat also seem to increase the propensity of developing AMD.  Lastly there has been some inconsistent data showing that exposure to certain drugs can increase the risk for AMD.  These drugs include a class used for the treatment of malaria as well as for the treatment of psychosis.  The latter drugs are called “phenothiazines.”

Age is the most obvious risk factor and that is why either dry or wet macular degeneration is called “age related”.  Studies show that about 1% of patients in their 60’s will have AMD whereas this number increases to 15% or more in persons who have reached their 90’s.  Therefore, the “age related” moniker becomes quite evident.

There has been some conflicting scientific information regarding the pigment or color of the eye.  Lighter skinned individuals with lighter eye color have been observed to have a higher incidence of AMD in some studies prompting physicians to believe that darker pigment might help block damaging UV light from the sun.  However, this finding has been contradicted in some studies.

Smoking is clearly a risk factor as 25% or more of the patients with AMD have a history of long term smoking.  Likewise hypertension is associated with an increased chance of developing this dreaded eye disorder.  Obesity more than doubles the risk for developing AMD, and some of the latest research seems to be pinpointing the actual genes that may be responsible for the increase of the disease within certain families.

Because the early symptoms of AMD can be very slight, it is important for patients to have periodic professional eye examinations by the time they reach 50.  A very large study has shown that certain nutritional supplements can slow the progression of AMD once the diagnosis has been made.  Those supplements should include vitamins A, E, and C as well as the minerals zinc and copper.  Lutein also seems to be a very important item in the slowing of the progression of AMD and possibly in the delaying of the onset.

In patients who are destined to develop AMD there appears to be some logic behind the use of these preparations in order to potentially delay the onset of macular degeneration. People over the age of 50 may gain some protection by using ocular nutritional items before AMD is ever diagnosed.

Treating Macular Degeneration

There are two treatable types of age related macular degeneration. The most common type is called age related macular degeneration or AMD.  The second type is called wet macular degeneration, and it comprises a much smaller percentage of the cases.  Since wet macular degeneration involves the formation of new blood vessels under the retina that hemorrhage, it is treated with drugs that are designed to prevent the formation of new blood vessels.  As these abnormal blood vessels form in an area where they should not be forming, efforts to treat are directed at preventing the new blood vessels from ever beginning to evolve.

The process by which these abnormal blood vessels begin to form under the surface of the retina is called angiogenesis or neovascularization. Drugs have been designed that are injected into the eyeball in the posterior or back portion. These drugs have been shown to reduce the neovascularization and thus reduce the progression of wet macular degeneration. To date there is no treatment that is one hundred percent effective. The current treatments are directed at slowing the formation of the blood vessels and thus slowing any leaking of blood from what are generally weak and abnormal vessels. Unfortunately wet macular degeneration is more rapidly progressive in most instances and is responsible for rapid vision loss quite often. The new drugs that are now available are called Avastin, Macugen, or Lucentis. These drugs work in a similar fashion by inhibiting a chemical that encourages the growth of new blood vessels. This chemical is called vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF. In addition to these drugs, some eye doctors called ophthalmologists prefer the use of specially directed laser to try to destroy leaking vessels.

The treatment of the most common type of macular degeneration called age related or dry macular degeneration is entirely different from the treatment of wet macular degeneration. Since dry macular degeneration (AMD) does not involve the formation of blood vessels that leak, the treatment is directed at a unique cause. AMD is caused by the formation of deposits on the surface of the retina and the macula called drusen. These deposits are felt to be debris from decomposing tissue. Fortunately the progression of this type of macular disease is far slower than wet macular disease. In spite of this fact AMD is responsible for the vast majority of cases of macular degeneration. Together AMD and wet macular degeneration are the leading causes of legal blindness.

Treatment of AMD is directed at slowing the formation of drusen. Ophthalmologists recommend the use of nutritional items that contain various combinations of vitamins. The most effective vitamins are A, C, and E. Along with these it has been shown in large studies that lutein, zinc, and copper are also helpful in the prevention of drusen. It is also recommended that patients with AMD wear sun glasses to limit sun damage to the retina. Sunglasses should have UV protection. Any of the current nutritional combinations have the potential of slowing the progression of AMD. Therefore, patients who are diagnosed with AMD should be taking one of the ocular nutritional preparations currently available.

Dry Macular Degeneration or Wet Macular Degeneration?

What is the difference?

Learn how to stop macular degeneration.

Macular degeneration is a disease that afflicts millions of Americans.  Macular Degeneration comes in a number of forms.  The genetic forms are the worst forms because the onset of the disease begins in youth or in the first couple of decades of life.  Fortunately the genetic forms of macular degeneration are quite rare.  This article is confined to the more common types of macular degeneration.  There are basically two types of macular degeneration that Americans over the age of 50 need concern themselves with at this time.  One type is called wet macular degeneration.  The second type is called age related macular degeneration or simply AMD.  Of these two types of macular degeneration, the age related form is far more common.

Wet macular degeneration is so named because the macula of the retina is covered by new blood vessels that form in an area where blood vessels normally do not exist.  Since these blood vessels can hemorrhage locally, this type of macular degeneration is called “wet”.  Wet macular degeneration is worse than dry macular degeneration or age related macular degeneration since it is usually more rapidly progressive.  The new blood vessels form via a phenomenon called vascular neogenesis or neovascularization.  These new blood vessels form under the retina and the macula resulting in a bulging up of the respective areas.  This bulging of the retina and macula causes a severe and rapidly progressive loss of vision.

With the wet type of macular degeneration a patient might see dark spots in their vision because of the blood that overlies the macula and the retina.  Some patients may notice that straight lines look wavy.  However, some patients do not notice any change at all which makes periodic eye examinations very important.

AMD or age related macular degeneration is also sometimes called dry macular degeneration because blood vessels and bleeding are not involved.  AMD involves the formation of something called drusen on the surface of the retina.  When these drusen begin to cover the macula, a patient will start to lose central vision.  The macula is the region of the eye responsible for clear and sharp vision like that required for driving a car or reading.  This type of macular degeneration is by far the most common cause of legal blindness in the United States as well as the world at large.  The most common treatment is a macular degeneration vitamin supplement.  Currently 1.75 million Americans are afflicted with AMD and estimates suggest more than 3 million people will suffer with AMD by the year 2020.

It is believed that drusen form from the deterioration of normal tissue.  A more gradual loss of vision occurs with this type of macular degeneration; however, over time it can result in the severe loss of vision.  Any type of macular degeneration results in the degradation of the retina and more importantly the macula over a period of months to years.

Dry macular degeneration can be treated with the proper macular degeneration eye vitamin supplement containing high levels of specific antioxidants.  Watch this short video from a medical doctor discussing the best macular degeneration vitamin.

In this video medical doctor discusses best macular degeneration vitamin.

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Macular Degeneration:

Causes, Prevention, & Treatment

Looking for Macular Degeneration Treatment?  Then click here now.

The human eye is a very complex and highly evolved organ.  Humans are able to see when light rays enter the eye through the pupil.  These light rays are received by sophisticated nerves on the surface of the back of the eye in an area called the retina.  These nerves enter like small fine filaments and eventually coalesce into a larger fiber that is called the optic nerve.  The highest concentration of these nerves that interpret vision is in an area called the macula.  Because it has the highest concentration of nerves that interpret light and transfer the light into vision, the macula is the most important visual center of the eye.  Unfortunately the macula is susceptible to an illness in later life that is abbreviated AMD for age related macular degeneration.

Macular degeneration is indeed an illness of the baby boomers as well as people who are older than the baby boomers and most doctors prescribe eye vitamins as a macular degeneration treatment.  It involves a slow and insidious deterioration of this highly important visual collection area of the eye’s retina.  This area is called the macula as stated above.  The macula is the source of the most acute vision that is eventually interpreted by the human brain. The macula allows your eyes to clearly and unequivocally focus on items that are right in front of you.  This is called central vision.  The other portions of the retina are filled with nerves that allow peripheral vision.

As patients age some are susceptible to the formation of deposits called drusen on the back of the retina.  When these drusen begin to cover the macula it results in the loss of central vision and eventually blind spots.  As the disease progresses the macula is slowly destroyed.  A patient with severe macular degeneration will ultimately suffer a complete loss of central vision.  When central vision is lost a patient is significantly impaired.  A patient with severe macular degeneration cannot read or see T.V. or even recognize a familiar human face.

There are forms of macular degeneration that are genetic and can effect young people; however, the bulk of patients with macular degeneration are over fifty years of age.  The slow development of drusen begins to occur during this decade.  Early in the course of the process a patient will barely notice the effects of drusen; however, as larger and larger amounts of these deposits cover the macula, vision is disrupted.  When the disease progresses to its worse form, a patient will only have limited peripheral vision.  Macular degeneration is by far the leading cause of legal blindness in the world.  Medical science continues to investigate the cause and searches for a cure.