Age macular degeneration (AMD) is a common eye disease that affects people 50 years and over. AMD affects the macular part of the retina, leading to blurry vision. The disease is caused by gene inheritance, smoking, eating lots of saturated fats, hypertension, obesity, and age. Younger adults and teenagers can have macular degeneration.
The type of degeneration in this group is called Stargardt disease. Types of macular degeneration include:

1. Wet macular degeneration
This is one of the age-related macular degenerations. Wet AMD is a severe and irreversible eye disease.
But, when diagnosed early, the disease can be treated by preventing further loss of vision. In rare cases, vision can be recovered. Wet AMD characterizes growth of abnormal blood vessels below the retina. The vessels then burst blood or fluid into the macular. When the fluid enters this part of the retina, the vision becomes blurry or wavy. There is less focus on the objects being viewed. Eventually, the macular becomes scarred, causing permanent loss of focal vision. Symptoms of wet macular degeneration include:

• Loss of color intensity
• Blurry central vision
• Visual distortions
• Having blind spots

2. Dry macular degeneration
It is a type of degeneration that comes with aging. It is less severe than wet macular degeneration. Dry macular degeneration causes thinning of the macular due to drusen. Drusen are yellow deposits that form in the macular. However, these deposits are not dangerous when in small quantities, and there may not be changes in vision.
Yet, when these deposits continue becoming bigger, they start interfering with vision. It gets blurry and distorted. When advanced, it affects the light-sensitive cells. The disease creates blind spots and, eventually, loss of focal vision. Early diagnosis of this degeneration can help prevent the growth of numerous drusen. As a result, the vision can be prevented from getting lost. Symptoms of dry macular degeneration are:

• Difficulty recognizing faces
• Visual distortions
• Difficulty transitioning light levels
• Difficulty reading printed words

3. Stargardt Macular Degeneration
This chronic eye disease is genetically inherited. It is found in teenagers and young adults. Stargardt does not affect a lot of people when compared to AMD. Although the disease is progressive, it rarely causes blindness.
Approximately 1 in 8000-10,000 people inherit this genetic disease. The mutation in ABCA4 and ELOVL4 genes cause this form of macular degeneration. The genes prevent ABCA4 proteins from removing toxic substances from the light-sensing cells (photoreceptor). The build-up of these substances causes cell death, leading to progressive loss of vision. ELOVL4 protein is active throughout. When the ELOVL4 gene mutates, it makes this protein to form clumps. These clumps can lead to cell death when they excessively accumulate to interfere with the retina’s functions. Symptoms of Stargardt disease include:

• A gradual loss of central vision
• Grey, black or hazy spots in the vision Sensitivity to bright light
• Color blindness

The most common form of macular degeneration is the dry form, which accounts for 90%. Although these AMDs can be controlled at early stages, ophthalmologists feel concerned about the overall behavior of people. They observe that most people do not regularly go for check-ups, which worsens these diseases. By the time they are seeking help, the diseases have progressed immeasurably. It is, therefore, prudent to visit an ophthalmologist once in a while for an eye check-up.