Dry Macular Degeneration

Over 90% of all seniors diagnosed with macular degeneration will have the dry stage. This type of macular degeneration deals with the delicate tissues of the macula behind the retina. The tissues become thinned and loose their function. This in turn, causes a blurred vision to take place in the center of the retina. The macula’s purpose is to help us see fine, minute details with clarity. Macular degeneration takes a lot of the light sensing cells away causing our detailed vision to blur. The blurred vision is only in the central part of our retina yet does not affect the peripheral vision.

Wet Macular Degeneration

The wet stage of macular degeneration is rare, but causes the most damage to your vision. It is caused by an abnormal growth of the blood cells behind the macula which in turn pushes the retina above its normal position. The growth begins to leak and scar tissue begins to form causing the central vision to digress quicker than in the dry stage.  If left untreated, macular degeneration can progress rapidly and even cause irreversible blindness.

Now that we know the definition and stages of macular degeneration, who can be affected, what are the causes and how can we prevent it from affecting our lives?