A research team co-led by the University of California, Irvine has discovered that accumulated DNA damage in the retina is a key contributor to age-related macular degeneration and that targeting specific retinal cell types ...
Dec 3, 2024
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Light therapy could be a useful treatment for the most common form of age-related macular degeneration, a new study says.
Oct 22, 2024
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A novel free eye disease screening program is engaging adults at high risk for eye disease who are underusing eye care services, according to a study published online Aug. 22 in JAMA Ophthalmology.
Aug 27, 2024
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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of vision loss in the U.S., affecting 11 million people, particularly older adults. The more severe form, neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), is characterized ...
Jul 9, 2024
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Summertime is primetime for the great outdoors, but that can mean new hazards for your eyes, one expert warned.
Jun 17, 2024
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Dick Bramer, 76, likes to watch birds flock outside the window of his home in Scandia. But for two years he couldn't see them well enough to identify the various species.
Feb 20, 2024
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Age-related macular degeneration can lead to vision loss in seniors, but new therapies have offered fresh hope for preserving eyesight later in life, eye experts say.
Feb 6, 2024
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As levels of nighttime artificial outdoor light rise, so do the odds for a leading cause of vision loss, age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Jan 17, 2024
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With human retinas grown in a petri dish, researchers discovered how an offshoot of vitamin A generates the specialized cells that enable people to see millions of colors, an ability that dogs, cats, and other mammals do ...
Jan 11, 2024
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Scientists at LSU Health New Orleans' Neuroscience Center of Excellence, led by Nicolas Bazan, MD, Ph.D., Boyd Professor and Director, have identified a new mechanism that regulates a protein key for cell survival. It appears ...
Dec 18, 2023
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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a medical condition which usually affects older adults and results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field (the macula) because of damage to the retina. It occurs in “dry” and “wet” forms. It is a major cause of blindness and visual impairment in older adults (>50 years). Macular degeneration can make it difficult or impossible to read or recognize faces, although enough peripheral vision remains to allow other activities of daily life.
Starting from the inside of the eye and going towards the back, the three main layers at the back of the eye are the retina, which contains the nerves; the choroid, which contains the blood supply; and the sclera, which is the white of the eye.
The macula is the central area of the retina, which provides the most detailed central vision.
In the dry (nonexudative) form, cellular debris called drusen accumulate between the retina and the choroid, and the retina can become detached. In the wet (exudative) form, which is more severe, blood vessels grow up from the choroid behind the retina, and the retina can also become detached. It can be treated with laser coagulation, and with medication that stops and sometimes reverses the growth of blood vessels.
Although some macular dystrophies affecting younger individuals are sometimes referred to as macular degeneration, the term generally refers to age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD).
Age-related macular degeneration begins with characteristic yellow deposits (drusen) in the macula, between the retinal pigment epithelium and the underlying choroid. Most people with these early changes (referred to as age-related maculopathy) have good vision. People with drusen can go on to develop advanced AMD. The risk is considerably higher when the drusen are large and numerous and associated with disturbance in the pigmented cell layer under the macula. Recent research suggests that large and soft drusen are related to elevated cholesterol deposits and may respond to cholesterol-lowering agents.
This text uses material from Wikipedia licensed under CC BY-SA
