Macular Degeneration Louisville KY

1. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of severe vision loss among people age 60 and older, according to the National Eye Institute.

2. According to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation, macular degeneration affects more than 10 million Americans.

3. The greatest risk factor for macular degeneration is being age 60 or older.

4. Women are at slightly greater risk than are men for developing macular degeneration, according to the National Eye Institute.

5. According to the National Eye Institute, although only about 10 to 15 percent of people with macular degeneration have the wet form of the disease, it causes significantly more severe vision loss from the disease than the dry form.

6. More than 85 percent of people who have macular degeneration have the dry form of the disease, which has no effective treatment.

7. Only a small percentage of wet macular degeneration patients are candidates for laser surgery because the spreading abnormal blood vessels have advanced too close to the part of the macula on which visual images are focused, according to the National Eye Institute. Photodynamic therapy with verteporfin (a medication) treatment may be an option for patients in whom the abnormal blood vessels extend underneath the central macula or fovea.

8. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of adult vision loss in industrialized countries. Although central vision can be severely affected or lost, peripheral vision remains.

9. The Age-Related Eye Diseases Study, sponsored by the National Eye Institute, found that antioxidant supplements, combined with zinc and copper, can reduce the risk of intermediate or early advanced AMD progressing to advanced AMD by 25 percent.

10. Macular degeneration has no cure.

For the rest of this article, questions to ask your health care professional, information on diagnosis, treatment, prevention and more, click here.

Author: Editorial Staff of the National Women's Health Resource Center