Age Related Macular Degeneration Essays

Macular Degeneration is a disease of the eye that gradually causes loss of a person’s central vision. Approximately 1.75 million Americans suffer from vision loss associated with the disease (All About Vision 1). The leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 60, Macular Degeneration, exists in two types (National Eye Institute 1). Both the wet and dry versions of the disease have similarities in risk factors, but differ in symptoms and treatments.

The research topic I will be introducing is Age-Related Macular Degeneration. This has been classified as a degenerative disorder that distresses the macula in one’s eye. AMD is unfortunately a common illness that individuals over 65 suffer from and that is a central cause vision loss. AMD doesn’t have a set disease pathway, in some individuals it advances slowly so that loss of vision does not arise for a long time. The disease can also advance much quicker and may lead to lack of vision in either or both eyes. The disease begins a blurry area near the center of one’s vision which grows larger and larger possibly causing a blank space in the eye (Boyd, 2013). Research is being done on AMD because it is a prevalent illness and has extreme consequences.

Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is one of such currently untreatable causes of blindness. RP, along with Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) are amongst the more frequent causes of blindness in the developed world (Greenwald 2009), while RP itself is the leading cause of inherited blindness (Palanker 2004).

Visual impairment is a state wherein an individual experiences difficulty in seeing or not being able to see anything physical presented to them. According to Mandal, MD (2013) It is a state where a visually impaired person’s eyesight cannot be corrected back to a “normal level”. Visual impairment is often associated with old age. In Europe, an estimated 15.5 million people have visual impairment and in seven countries in Europe, about 50% of blindness is caused by age-related macular degeneration. (Dibb,

Important to realize, blindness affects many people. Disabilities such as glaucoma, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, meningitis, and women who are pregnant with syphilis are at risk of developing blindness (Marcovitz 10). Many children in less developed countries live with vitamin A deficiencies which can lead to blindness (“Blindness”). Researchers

In this article, "EyeSee: Carrot naturalactives concentrate for eye health from Diana", Phillipe Saroner states "The maintenance of normal function of the eye is strongly dependent on the consumption of the antioxidant nutrients including hydrophobic carotids which must be transported in the blood"(22). Saroner discusses how maintaining our visual acuity throughout our life is a major concern of the entire population, and improving visual comfort has a significant impact on our quality of life. As a result, The intake of essential and specific nutrients ensuring the proper functioning of the eye has to be provided permanently in a practical way to easily complete the variations in nutritional intake of our diets. This source is helpful because

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness for people 60 years of age and older in the developed world. Vision loss is caused by the destruction of the cone photoreceptors, located in the macula, that are responsible for color/central vision. The underlying cause of AMD is the loss of the monolayer of pigmented epithelial cells located just below the photoreceptors, known as the retinal pigmentum epithelium (RPE). The main role of the RPE is to maintain the function of the photoreceptor layer by secreting nutrients, absorbing stray light, and recycling debris used during the visual cycle. As a person ages the efficiency of the RPE layer is diminished causing a build up of toxic by-products. These toxic build-ups, known as drusens, result in the separation and death of the photoreceptor and RPE layers. AMD is speculated to result from as many as 20 different genetic mutations and as a result there is no known cure for the disease (CITE), but recent advances in stem cell therapy is a hopeful step in the right direction.

Age-related macular degeneration also known as AMD is a disease leading to severe vision and legal blindness in the elderly population. I will address the health condition description and the disability and functional implications who suffer from this disease.

There are two different kinds of macular degeneration. There is a "wet" macular degeneration and a "dry" macular degeneration. More than half of the people with macular degeneration have the dry degeneration. The dry macular degeneration involves deposits of drusen which leads to the damage of the macula. Patients may still have good vision even when having dry macular degeneration. The early symptoms of dry macular degeneration include minimal vision impairment and the disease progresses really slow.

As humans, we don't always see with our eyes, but often with our imagination (Grunwald, 2016). Often times as people we never realize how useful our vision really is to us. You really don't think about something like that until it would actual happen to you. Throughout this essay, you will learn how the body is affected by Macular Degeneration (MD). Different signs and symptoms, as well as the etiology of MD, will be discussed. In the following, diagnosis tests and treatments may also be listed in order to help others who would like to know more about MD. Not to mention, you will learn the incidence and progression of MD. Furthermore, information though agencies and associations, as well as new research about MD will be given.

and proteins leak out of the abnormal blood vessels. The fluids then collect in the retina and

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly. AMD is characterized by the progression from early to intermediate stages of the disease. The two major advanced forms are the geographic atrophy (GA) AMD and neovascular AMD. GA or “dry” AMD is characterized by loss of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells and outer layers of the neurosensory retina as well as the choriocapillaris. Neovascular or "wet" AMD is characterized by the formation of choroidal neovascularization (CNV), the ingrowth of new blood vessels from the choriocapillaris through Bruch's membrane into the sub pigment epithelium or subretinal

The first disease I’m going to mention is Glaucoma, according to Web MD last updated in 2015, Glaucoma is a condition that causes damage to your eye's optic nerve and gets worse over time. It's often associated with a buildup of pressure inside the eye. Glaucoma tends to be inherited and may not show up until later in life.

     Macular Degeneration is a problem in the part of the eye that controls your sharpest central vision. It is a group of diseases that result in a loss of detailed vision. The brain will not just leave the spot empty, so it learns to fill it in with spotty macular cell damage. People most of the time don't tell their doctors (opthalmologists) about it until it is well in advance.

Glaucoma is a group of eye disorders that cause blindness by hurting the optic nerve, which is the large nerve that is responsible for vision. In glaucoma, the optic nerve damage is related to a change in the fluid pressure that circulates around the eyeball. In many cases, Glaucoma occurs when the eye's fluid pressure is high, but it can also occur when the pressure is measured as normal.