Macular degeneration, (AMD
or ARMD), is a frailty that affects people of 60 years and above, resulting in
loss of vision in the center of their visual field because of damage caused to
the retina.
It occurs in both dry
and wet forms. It is a major cause of blindness and visual impairment, affecting
30-50 million people worldwide. It makes it difficult or at times impossible to
read or identify faces, although minor vision remains to allow other activities
of daily life.
The area of the macula covers
only about 2.1% of the retina, and the remaining 97.9% remains unaffected by
this disease. Ironically, even though the macula provides a small fraction of
the visual field, almost half of the visual cortex is devoted to process macular
information.
Like many other age-related
disorders, macular degeneration was once rare, but has become increasingly
common in developed nations in the last 30 years due to the rapid growth in the
number of people over 75 of age and posts a significant health care challenge
as it is the most common cause of vision loss in adults, with the immensity of
new cases occurring after the age of 80.
Currently, it appears that
the best way to safeguard your eyes from escalating early macular degeneration
is to eat a healthy diet, exercise and wear sunglasses that protect your eyes
from the sun's harmful UV rays and high-energy visible (HEV) radiation.
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