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You can ward off plenty of health conditions by looking out for early warning signs, but there are no such indications in the early stages of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of vision loss in people over 50.
“Age-related macular degeneration is a disease that can be insidious, often with symptoms coming on slowly over years,” says Michelle Andreoli, M.D., an ophthalmologist at Northwestern Medicine and spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. “The slow onset of symptoms can lead to advanced disease before patients are aware of the change.”
AMD, which afflicts nearly 20 million people in the United States over age 40, is a progressive eye disease that affects the central vision and, as a result, the ability to see fine details. Although peripheral (side) vision usually remains unaffected, it’s all but impossible to drive, read, watch TV or recognize faces if you have advanced AMD.
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Types of age-related macular degeneration
There are two types of AMD: dry and wet. The overwhelming majority of people with the disease have dry AMD. With the dry form, parts of the macula — at the center of the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of your eyes — become thin, and tiny clumps of protein called drusen grow, gradually blurring your central vision.
With wet AMD, abnormal blood vessels grow under the macula, leading to fluid and blood leakage, causing scarring of the macula.
Symptoms of age-related macular degeneration
“Symptoms like the ones described below should prompt patients to see their eye care specialists for an eye exam,” says Akrit Sodhi, M.D., professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “They could be due to development of advanced AMD, dry or wet.”
- Blurriness: The haziness comes on so gradually you may think the solution to the fuzzy print on the page or your computer screen is a new eyeglasses prescription or a brighter bulb in the overhead lighting. And it may be. But blurriness is also a hallmark symptom of AMD.
- Straight lines appear wavy: Imagine looking at lines of text on a page that appear bent or curved. Or maybe it’s the window blinds, bathroom tiles or bookshelves that look that way. When lines that should be straight aren’t, you may have AMD.
- Blank areas in your central vision: Often, the earliest changes associated with AMD are tiny blind spots in your central vision — as opposed to your peripheral vision — that can slowly enlarge and multiply, Andreoli says. “Eventually, these tiny blind spots start to blend together, leading to central vision loss.” Although you may retain some peripheral vision, it’s difficult to read and recognize other people’s faces.
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