No. Peripheral, or side, vision usually is not affected by macular degeneration, and people rarely go completely blind from the disease. Macular degeneration involves destruction of the macula, the central part of the eye's retina that allows you to see fine, sharp details straight ahead. The retina is made of light-sensitive tissue that sends visual messages via nerve impulses to the brain through the optic nerve. The brain then processes the nerve signals into a "picture" that you see. The macula consists of millions of light-sensitive cells that help provide the central vision used in reading, driving, recognizing faces and doing close work, such as sewing. As the macula deteriorates, central vision becomes blurred and distorted. There also is loss of fine detail, difficulty reading, a greater need for more light to see and reduced color vision. Supplementing with antioxidant vitamins, zinc and copper may slow the disease's progression.