Can I Go Blind From Macular Degeneration

Dry age related macular degeneration amd is the most common.

Can i go blind from macular degeneration.

Even so since the rest of the retina is still working they retain their peripheral vision or side vision. At present macular degeneration is considered an incurable eye disease though some treatments do exist. In the u s macular degeneration affects nearly 10 million people. Many patients are frightened of losing vision or going blind when they are told they have age related macular degeneration amd.

The macula actually represents a very small component of a patient s overall visual field. On average it takes about 10 years to move from diagnosis to legal blindness but there are some forms of macular degeneration that can cause sight loss in just days. There are several factors both controllable and uncontrollable that may put you at risk of macular degeneration. Total blindness from macular degeneration is extremely rare.

Fortunately most patients with amd can keep good vision for their entire lives and even those who lose their central vision almost always maintain their side or peripheral vision. For instance a large study found that people in middle age have about a 2 percent risk of getting amd but this risk increased to nearly 30 percent in those over age 75 facts about 2009. Vision changes in the dry form are slower and more insidious it may take months or years before one notices that colors are less vivid one s vision has become blurry or a grey or blank spot has developed in the middle of one s vision. According to chip goehring founder and president of the american macular degeneration foundation he is living proof that by eating right and taking proper preventative measures you can still keep your sight even 20 years after being diagnosed with amd.

Spots in the retina. Prevention although most cases of wet macular degeneration are due to genetics there are a number of lifestyle and dietary factors that can affect the risk of developing the dry form of the eye disease. Macular degeneration typically affects the central part of vision referred to as the macula. However although the disease may cause blindness it s not guaranteed.

People with very advanced macular degeneration are considered legally blind. Age related macular degeneration is a disease that affects vision due to damage to the central part of the retina. Although amd may occur earlier studies indicate that people over age 60 are at greater risk than those in younger age groups.