An Introduction to Wet Macular Degeneration
Age-related
macular degeneration (AMD, or just macular degeneration) is a common eye disease that is associated with aging. It blurs the sharp, central vision needed for "straight-ahead" activities, such as reading, sewing, and driving. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss among Americans ages 65 and over.
There are two
types of macular degeneration: dry and wet. About 90 percent of people with macular degeneration have
dry macular degeneration, and the remaining 10 percent have wet macular degeneration. Wet macular degeneration is the more serious type of macular degeneration.
In order to understand wet macular degeneration, it is helpful to understand the parts of your eye involved with sight. These structures include the cornea, iris, pupil, lens, macula, and retina.
Your cornea is a thin, clear layer on the outside of your eye. The iris, or the colored part of your eye, is a muscle that controls the amount of light going through your pupil, which is the round opening in the center of your eye. Behind the iris sits the lens, which is just larger than your pupil. The iris is enclosed by a thin, clear capsule that holds the lens in its proper place.
When light enters your eye, the cornea and lens form the light rays into a beam of light that is focused directly onto your retina -- the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The retina instantly converts light, or an image, into electrical impulses. The retina then sends these impulses, or nerve signals, to the brain through the optic nerve. The optic nerve is a bundle of more than one million nerve fibers connecting the retina to the brain.
The macula is located in the center of the retina. It is made up of millions of light-sensing cells that help to produce central vision.
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