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Macular degeneration



         


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Macular Degeneration

Macular Degeneration is the medical condition where the light sensing cells in the macula malfunction and over time cease to work. Today it is the main cause of blindness for those over the age of sixty five. There are two basic types of the disease: Standard MD (Macular Degeneration) and ARMD (Age Related Macular Degeneration). The main cause of Macular Degeneration is old age and thus ARMD is the most common form of the condition. However MD that is not age related is most commonly caused by disease or heredity. These forms are sometimes called Juvenille MD. In Macular Degeneration the final form results in complete blindness in the central part of the patient's vision.

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Wet and Dry Macular Degeneration

Eighty five to ninety precent of all Macular Degeneration is categorized as "dry" MD where fatty tissue will slowly build up behind the retina. Ten to fifteen percent of cases however do not build up this fatty tissue and are called "wet" MD due to the leakage of blood and other fluid from behind the retina into the eye. If wet MD continues without treatment it will completely destroy the macula.

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Symptons Used to Diagnose MD

1)A grid of straight lines appears wavy and parts of the grid appear blank.

2)Visual acuity drastically decreasing (two levels or more) ex: 20/20 to 20/80.

3)Holes in fundus photographs (photographs of the retina).

4)Trouble discerning colors specifically dark ones from dark ones and light ones from light ones.

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Illnesses and Conditions that Cause MD





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