Macular Degeneration Causes — Everything You Should Know

Age-related macular degeneration can be a devastating diagnosis. The macula of the eye is what we use for our central vision – every time we want to look directly at something, we turn our eyes until the image of the object falls onto the macula. While macula degeneration doesn’t typically lead to complete and total vision loss, we do rely on our central vision for a lot of crucial tasks, including reading, writing, recognising faces, identifying colour, and watching TV. To understand more about macular degeneration causes and symptoms, keep reading. 

What You Should Know About Macular Degeneration Causes

At the moment, there’s still a lot more to discover about macular degeneration causes. At a basic level, the disease occurs because the retinal pigment epithelial layer of the retina is no longer able to support the function of the overlying photoreceptors. Photoreceptors are responsible for receiving photons of light and converting them into neural signals that are passed on to the brain for interpretation as vision. During age-related macular degeneration, the retinal pigment epithelium becomes damaged from the accumulation of metabolic waste products. The disruption to this layer then subsequently results in damage to the photoreceptor layer, leading to macular degeneration symptoms. 

We still don’t fully understand why some people develop macular degeneration, and others don’t. However, there are several factors known to increase your risk of experiencing macular degeneration symptoms. Some of these factors are outside your control (such as age and genetics), while others can be managed to reduce your likelihood of developing the disease.

• Age. As the name suggests, age-related macular degeneration is a disease of older age. 
• Family history. Genetics are thought to play a part in macular degeneration causes, though their exact role is still not clear. If you have a parent or sibling with macular degeneration, you have a 50% risk of developing it yourself.
• Ethnicity. No ethnic heritage is immune to macular degeneration; however, Caucasians are known to be at a significantly higher risk compared to other ethnicities.
• Smoking. Smoking tobacco can increase your likelihood of developing macular degeneration by up to three times compared to someone who doesn’t smoke. 
• Cardiovascular disease. Suffering from cardiovascular problems isn’t good for any part of your body, including your macula. Conditions including hypertension can be a risk factor for age-related macular degeneration.
• Obesity. The exact link between obesity and macular degeneration isn’t fully clear, but researchers believe obesity increases the levels of inflammatory compounds throughout the body, which can damage the macula. 

Although this list of risk factors demonstrates that you can’t eliminate your risk of age-related macular degeneration completely, there are steps you can take to reduce it. Consider keeping yourself in overall good health as you get older, which will be beneficial for every part of you. This includes:

• Quitting smoking
• Maintaining a healthy weight through exercise and good food choices
• Manage any cardiovascular disease or risk factors
• Wear a hat and sunglasses to protect your eyes from UV exposure. Although the relationship between UV radiation and macular degeneration isn’t strong, there is no disadvantage in protecting your eyes from the sun, so many doctors still recommend this. 
• Increase the number of antioxidants and omega-3 in your diet. This includes dark, leafy vegetables, nuts, oily fish, and fresh fruit. 

Macular Degeneration Symptoms

Macular degeneration symptoms can begin very subtly. In fact, many people with the beginnings of age-related macular degeneration are unaware they are experiencing any symptoms of the disease. Many cases of macular degeneration are detected and diagnosed during a routine eye exam with an eyecare professional such as an optometrist or ophthalmologist. 

The symptoms of age-related macular degeneration can include:

• Deterioration to your central vision, which you may describe as blurry, dark, or indistinct
• Noticing that lines that should be straight are instead wavy or distorted
• Finding that your glasses are not as helpful in seeing fine detail as they used to be
• Difficulty in recognising familiar faces
• Finding you need better lighting when wanting to read or see up close
• Changes to your colour perception

Because macular degeneration affects only the macula, your peripheral vision will still remain intact. This is important for activities such as walking and reacting to objects approaching from your side.

Your eyecare practitioner can diagnose macular degeneration through a series of simple tests. Your macula can be directly viewed through a technique known as fundoscopy. Retinal photography and another instrument known as optical coherence tomography are also invaluable in assessing and diagnosing macular degeneration, as it gives your clinician a good view of the macula and all its layers, including the retinal pigment epithelium.

If you are developing macular degeneration, your macula will appear patchy with yellowish spots known as drusen or areas of pigment disruption, which may appear as irregular, darker and lighter pigmentation. Later stages of macular degeneration involve atrophy of the retinal tissues. One type of macular degeneration, known as the wet or neovascular type, involves the leakage of new, frail blood vessels under the macula. Your optometrist or ophthalmologist will be able to see this with their various imaging techniques as well. 

At the moment, there is no cure for macular degeneration, but the neovascular form can be treated with eye injections. Your eye care professional may recommend nutritional supplements designed to protect the macula, but you should ask first whether it is appropriate for you.

Contact us on (03) 9070 3580 today.

Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.

References

Age-related Macular Degeneration.
https://www.mdfoundation.com.au/about-macular-disease/age-related-macular-degeneration/AMD-overview/

Macular degeneration.
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/macular-degeneration

Pathophysiology of age-related macular degeneration.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3299827/#:~:text=The%20clinical%20and%20histopathological%20features,takes%20place%20in%20all%20eyes.