Macular Degeneration Prognosis
How fast one's macular degeneration will progress is a major concern for most people diagnosed with this macular degenerative disease. One person may experience a different rate of progression in their right eye compared to their left eye. It's possible that one eye can have dry age related macular degeneration and the other eye the wet form.
Blindness and Low VisionFor the majority of people age related macular degeneration (AMD) progresses slowly and affects only your central vision. It is not blindness. It is considered low vision. Low vision is visual impairment that cannot be corrected by:
glasses, surgery or medical treatment. However, a person still has some usable peripheral or side vision that with training, low vision aids and magnifiers can continue to do many of the activities they enjoyed before.
The most important factor for your macular degeneration prognosis will be if you have dry macular degeneration or if you have wet macular degeneration. Dr. Michael A. Samuel, ophthalmologist and author of Macular Degeneration: A Complete Guide for Patients and Their Families Share Your Macular Degeneration ExperienceMany readers are interested in how macular degeneration progresses. It is different for everybody and different for each eye. Share with others what your experience has been. Tell us when you were first diagnosed, if you have wet or dry macular degeneration, what treatment you used and then describe what loss of vision you have experienced. Click here to share: Share Your Macular Degeneration Experience.Dry Macular Degeneration PrognosisAlmost 85-90% of those with macular degeneration have the dry or atrophic form. The progression of dry macular degeneration is slow and and may take years for it to worsen. The factors that play into the progression of this disease are:1) Environment - toxins in the air and food we eat causes free radical damage
2. Dietary - diets high in carbohydrates and unhealthy fats and low in antioxidants
4) Lack of exercise 5) Family History - have parents or siblings with AMD However, the dry form can turn into the wet form... and it can turn into the wet form very suddenly, even if you have early stage AMD. All people who have the wet form had the dry form first. There is no way to tell if or when the dry form will turn into the wet form.
How to Influence Macular Degeneration Prognosis
Meanwhile, during this time you can be proactive in many ways in slowing the progression of AMD and adapting to your change in vision.
√ Protect your Vision Wear sunglasses and wide brimmed hats or visors. Avoid being out in the sun from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Stay away from tanning booths. Learn about blue blocker sunglasses. Exposure to ultraviolet light increases the formation of free radicals. This exposure is accumulative. Free radicals cause degeneration and damage to the cell walls. "Almost every single one of the risk factors we have for macular degeneration can be linked to free radicals." Dr. Lylas G. Mogk, M. D. author of Macular Degeneration: The Complete Guide to Saving and Maximizing Your Sight 
√ Proper Nutrition
Antioxidants
and
omega-3s
are vital for your health and especially your eye health.
√ Take
macular degeneration vitamins
According to the U.S. Federal government's National Eye Institute the Age-Related Eye Disease Study found that:"taking high levels of antioxidants and zinc can reduce the risk of developing advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by about 25 percent."
√ Prepare for the futureBecome aware of the many visual aids and training available from a low vision specialist. Magnifiers, proper lighting along with large number phones and electronic book readers all help to maximize one's useable vision.
Wet Macular Degeneration PrognosisWet macular degeneration causes loss of central vision much quicker than the dry form ...and each eye can have a different form of macular degeneration.So one eye may lose central vision quicker than the other eye.
Fortunately, only 10%-15% of AMD are the wet or exudative form.
In this form, blood vessels that are weak and fragile grow from the choroid layer (a layer of tissue under the macula)and they leak blood and fluid.
This damages the cone cells in the macula. The macula , is a very small little spot in the retina which is responsible for you vision straight ahead. This little spot is only about 5% of your retina - however it is responsible for 35% of your visual field. As AMD progresses it is the visual field right in front of you - like someone's face that you are talking to or a book in front of you - that becomes distorted or blurry. This means that the rest of the retina is still functioning and thus you still have side or peripheral vision - which is very different than total blindness.
What Others are Experiencing
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writes, "There's usually no way to know, once symptoms appear, how fast the disease will progress. You can go for years with a mild case of dry AMD, only to wake up one morning with drastic changes that indicate the onset of wet AMD."
