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Retinal dystrophies are the leading
cause of severe vision loss. They include involutional
dystrophies or age-related macular degenerations. Such
tendency is connected with changing demographic situation
- the number of old people increases.
The risk increases with aging.
Other risk factors include vascular diseases such as
hypertension (high blood pressure), atherosclerosis,
diabetes mellitus; family history, obesity, cigarette
smoking, exposure to ultraviolet light, low levels of
nutrients, race. But as people age their chances for
developing eye diseases increase dramatically.
Macular degenerations provide
the damage of the central part of the retina - the macula.
The macula is the area with the densest cocentration
of the photo receptor cells and it is responsible for
our vision in details. That is why the damage of this
part of the retina provides cosiderable vision loss.
It is important to point out that macular degeneration
affects your central vision, but not your peripheral
vision, thus it doesn't cause total blindness. But in
the most complicated cases you can't do detail work
(reading, writing).
Macular degeneration occurs in
two types: ''dry'' (nonexudative) and ''wet'' (exudative).
Nonexudative forms are the most common and they are
diagnosed in 90 percent of macular degeneration cases,
tend to progress more slowly allowing you to keep most
of your vision. The wet form is more serious and accounts
to 10 percent of all cases. It can progress quickly
and the sooner you're diagnosed and treated, the better
your chances of limiting vision loss.
Early diagnosis of macular degeneration
is essential, only an eye care specialist can choose
the necessary treatment. But in most cases it is very
difficult to diagnose macular degeneration because other
eye diseases that are linked to aging have the same
symptoms. Patients should know common symptoms of macular
degeneration; they include: visual distortion which
causes straight lines to appear wavy, double vision,
blind spots. You must consult your eye doctor immediatly
when any of these symptoms appear.
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