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Are you in danger of losing your eyesight as you age? Over 25% of Americans over 65 have macular degeneration. Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) affects more Americans than glaucoma and cataracts combined. As you grow older, your risk increases dramatically.

AMD is a deterioration of a portion of the retina. The retina is the backside of the eye. It records images and sends them to the brain. The central portion of the retina is the macula.

The macula plays major roles in these features of vision:

• Focusing vision
• Recognizing colors
• Recognizing faces
• Reading
• Driving a car
• Seeing fine details

In AMD, this critical structure of vision is gradually destroyed. There are two types of macular degeneration: “wet” and “dry.” “Dry” macular degeneration makes up about 90% of all cases. A yellow substance called drusen collects under the macula. The drusen thins and dries the macula, causing deterioration.

“Wet” macular degeneration affects only a minority of people suffering from AMD. In this case, blood vessels grow abnormally under the macula. These blood vessels eventually leak. The macula bulges, causing vision loss.

According to American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF), there are approximately200,000 new cases of macular degeneration in the U.S. each year and more than 10 million sufferers.1 Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the name given to that group of diseases that cause sight-sensing cells in the macular zone of the retina to malfunction or lose function.

AMD occurs primarily in two forms: dry and wet.

Dry AMD affects about 90 percent of those with the disease.¹ Its cause is unknown. Slowly, the light-sensitive cells in the macula break down. With less of the macula working, you may start to lose central vision in the affected eye as the years go by. Dry AMD often occurs in just one eye at first. You may get the disease later in the other eye. Doctors have no way of knowing if or when both eyes may be affected.

Wet AMD accounts for 90 percent of all severe vision loss from the disease, but only about 10 to 15 percent of all people with AMD have this type.¹ It occurs when new blood vessels behind the retina start to grow toward the macula. Because these new blood vessels tend to be very fragile, they will often leak blood and fluid under the macula. This causes rapid damage to the macula that can lead to the loss of central vision in a short period of time.