What Is Macular Degeneration And Its Two Forms?
By Rachel Berret
You know that with age comes a variety of health problems. There
are cases of osteoporosis, muscle spasms and the very serious heart
condition. These are actually diseases that are caused by the
weakening immune system and other bodily structures inside your
body. They can no longer support the activities that you very do
with much energy when you are younger.
One part of your body that is very well affected by aging is your
eyes. True to form, the usual problems encountered by the elderly
are loss of vision and poor eyesight. Macular degeneration is a
disease that progresses with age and that damages the macula. This
part of your eyes is in the central area of the retina, which is
responsible for the clarity of your vision.
When you have macular degeneration, you experience seeing blurry pictures and distorted images of your surroundings. You cannot read clearly because the words look jumbled together. You would also find recognizing people's faces and even the features of various places as difficult due to blurred spots in your vision. Even if you would not likely go completely blind because some parts of your vision, like the periphery, are retained, having macular degeneration is still impairing because it deals with the major aspect of your eyesight.
There are two forms of macular degeneration: dry and wet. If your condition is that of the dry form, drusen-yellow deposits that hinders the macula-develop in a slow manner. Therefore, you would only feel its manifestations when the drusen is already growing. The cells in your macula also get thinner, which leads to the death of the tissues in your eyes.
If on the other hand you have the wet form of macular degeneration, abnormal blood vessels grow under the retinal pigment epithelium layer. It leads to bleeding and leaking that in turn causes scarring. Then, your eyesight transcends from having blind spots to finally losing your vision. This is a condition that develops rather faster than the dry form.
So how do you prevent macular degeneration? Definitely, you need to know the risk factors involved so you can avoid them. Age and heredity are the primary risk factors. But smoking, obesity and exposure to too much sunlight can also put you at a great risk of having the disease. You also have to be on the lookout if you have a case of cardiovascular problem and hypertension.
When you have macular degeneration, you experience seeing blurry pictures and distorted images of your surroundings. You cannot read clearly because the words look jumbled together. You would also find recognizing people's faces and even the features of various places as difficult due to blurred spots in your vision. Even if you would not likely go completely blind because some parts of your vision, like the periphery, are retained, having macular degeneration is still impairing because it deals with the major aspect of your eyesight.
There are two forms of macular degeneration: dry and wet. If your condition is that of the dry form, drusen-yellow deposits that hinders the macula-develop in a slow manner. Therefore, you would only feel its manifestations when the drusen is already growing. The cells in your macula also get thinner, which leads to the death of the tissues in your eyes.
If on the other hand you have the wet form of macular degeneration, abnormal blood vessels grow under the retinal pigment epithelium layer. It leads to bleeding and leaking that in turn causes scarring. Then, your eyesight transcends from having blind spots to finally losing your vision. This is a condition that develops rather faster than the dry form.
So how do you prevent macular degeneration? Definitely, you need to know the risk factors involved so you can avoid them. Age and heredity are the primary risk factors. But smoking, obesity and exposure to too much sunlight can also put you at a great risk of having the disease. You also have to be on the lookout if you have a case of cardiovascular problem and hypertension.
Hi. I'm Rachel Berret, a big advocate seeing an osteopath for
your health complaints. I have a great osteopath
Melbourne that helps me overcome my own aches and pains such as
back pain, neck pains and headaches.
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