Can Macular Degeneration Cause Blindness

It s also the number one.

Can macular degeneration cause blindness.

Cures do not yet exist for either condition. Color blindness is caused by an altered gene causing a cone cell to lack the proper molecular pigment. Macular degeneration doesn t affect side peripheral vision so it rarely causes total blindness. If only one eye is affected you may not notice any changes in your vision because your good eye may compensate for the weak eye.

You notice changes in your central vision. Patients with macular degeneration lose their central vision. People 55 and older are at the highest risk of developing amd. While there is no specific cause risk factors include smoking and some blood pressure medications.

These changes may be the first indication of macular degeneration particularly if you re older than age 50. A great many of those cases stem from macular degeneration which currently impacts 10 million people who either have the condition or are at severe risk of contracting it. For patients over 55 years of age macular degeneration is the leading cause of severe vision loss. It s estimated that more than 10 million americans have this disease.

Macular degeneration doesn t cause total blindness because it doesn t affect your peripheral vision. There are some forms of macular degeneration that can cause a rapid deterioration of vision unfortunately. Loss of color perception due to macular degeneration is the result of a normally formed cell losing its ability to function. A person who has been diagnosed with macular degeneration is naturally concerned about permanently losing their sight since the eye disease is the number one cause of severe blindness.

Learn more about what causes macular degeneration. When to see a doctor. Your ability to see colors and fine detail becomes impaired. Advanced age related macular degeneration amd is the world s leading cause of irreversible blindness and visual impairment according to the brightfocus foundation whose funding backs research in macular degeneration and glaucoma.

These wet forms of macular degeneration involve the growth of blood vessels deep within the eye and when those vessels leak or burst they cause rapid loss of vision. See your eye doctor if. The cell is healthy in all other respects. Does everyone with macular degeneration eventually go blind.

When the central region of the retina starts to deteriorate macular degeneration occurs. Macular degeneration is a serious condition that can lead to legal blindness in older adults. And the condition doesn t affect side peripheral vision so it rarely causes total blindness.