Age Related Macular Degeneration ARMD - The Facts
A chronic eye disease that strikes people over 50 is called Age Related Macular Degeneration ARMD. It is not something that anyone wants to have because it affects the central vision. It attacks the macula, which located at the center of the retina and is the tissue located behind the eye. This area of the eye is what sends electrical impulses to the brain allowing people to see. Eventually, the disease destroys central vision and blind spots and blurriness start to appear.
ARMD can strike slowly or quickly. Sometimes people do not even know they have it because, at first, their vision seems normal to them. In other cases, the disease progresses very quickly and there is no doubt that something very serious is going on. There are two types of ARMD – dry and wet.
Dry ARMD occurs slowly and vision gradually becomes more and more blurred. As time goes on, all central vision is lost. It can occur in one or both eyes and an early sign is a condition called drusen. Drusen is when the retina starts to accumulate yellow deposits underneath it. Once the condition starts, it appears to contribute to ARMD. Drusen has three distinct stages: Early, Intermediate and Advanced. With early dry ARMD, vision isn’t affected to a great extent and the yellow deposits are minimal. Intermediate dry ARMD is evident when central vision becomes blurred, most often with a fuzzy spot in the middle of the vision field. Advanced dry ARMD vision becomes very sensitive to light and blurring of central vision is present. This blurred spot becomes larger and larger and vision worsens at this final stage of the disease.
Wet ARMD comes on quickly and often results in blood vessel growth and leaks in back of the retina. Once this happens, the macula starts to quickly degenerate. It doesn’t go through the same stages as dry ARMD and progresses to advanced ARMD almost immediately.
Age Related Macular Degeneration ARMD is a very serious disease and any symptoms should be reported to a doctor immediately. Once diagnosed, there are some treatment options available although the disease cannot be cured. Laser surgery, anti-VEGT therapy injections and photodynamic therapy can be tried for wet ARMD. On the other hand, the symptoms of dry ARMD can only be delayed so that the disease does not progress to the advanced stage.
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