Detecting Early Macular Degeneration

Macular degeneration is a form of age related degeneration of the retina leading to loss of central vision. Detecting early macular degeneration may not always be simple, especially if you are not vigilantly checking your eye sight for possible early changes. The very early changes of macular degeneration are often subtle and cause no or minimal symptoms. The symptoms are disturbances of vision and arise after the process of degeneration has progressed for sometime.

There are two main forms of macular degeneration; the dry form and the wet form. The dry form is by far more common and amounts to about 90 percent of the cases. It may be referred to as the non-exudative type or atrophic type or drusenoid macular degeneration. The wet form is alternatively referred to as choroidal neovascularization (CNV) or exudative degeneration or disciform degeneration or subretinal neovascularization.

The exact cause of macular degeneration is not known. Factors such as genetic make up of an individual, ageing, smoking, high blood pressure, obesity and certain drugs have all been attributed to this condition.

If you want to get the earliest changes of macular degeneration detected, the best way will be to get your eyes regularly checked by an eye care practitioner. The signs of degeneration are often detectable before the symptoms appear. The earliest symptoms are very subtle and you may completely miss them. You may have a generalized blurriness of your vision and need brighter illumination to read. You may find printed words to be blurry or fuzzy and brightness of colours may be perceived as less than what actually they are. These symptoms are often mistakenly thought to be a result of ageing and may not be given proper attention.

As time passes, you may have slightly more detectable symptoms in the form of disturbances in central vision. You may see blurred or shadowy areas in the central part of your vision, lines and straight objects may appear bent or distorted, perception of distance may be a problem and you may have difficulty in recognizing faces. These symptoms may continue to worsen and finally by the time you get help, your degenerative changes would have progressed to a fair stage.

The most widely used and perhaps the simplest and useful piece of tool to detect the presence and progress of macular degeneration is called an Amsler Grid. This is a grid or a chart with vertical and horizontal lines placed equally apart so that small squares are formed by them. At the centre of the chart will be a dark dot where you will be asked to focus while checking for macular degeneration. The Amsler grid can be used at home and can be downloaded free of charge from several eye health websites.

Apart from eye examinations, you may be asked to undergo specific tests such as flourescein angiography to diagnose or rule out macular degeneration. So getting your eyes regularly checked is crucial.

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