A.H., Tucson A Macular degeneration is an eye disease that impairs vision by gradually destroying the sharp, central vision needed for seeing objects clearly and for common daily activities such as reading and driving. It is the most common cause of impaired vision in people over the age of 50. Studies show that people over age 60 are at greater risk. People over age 75 have a nearly 30 percent risk. Others at risk include those who have an immediate family member who has the disease and those who smoke or who are exposed to second-hand smoke.
Women tend to be at greater risk than men.
Symptoms include blurred vision that goes away in brighter light, straight lines that appear wavy, or a small but growing blind spot in the middle of the field of vision. The dry form, the more common of the two, is caused by aging and thinning of the tissues of the macula, the small area at the back of the eye that allows us to see fine details clearly. The dry form develops slowly and may cause progressive loss of vision. In the wet form, new blood vessels grow beneath the retina, leaking fluid and blood and creating a blind spot in the center of the visual field. Although about 10 percent of people with macular degeneration have the wet form, it accounts for 90 percent of all blindness from the disease.