About macular degeneration

Age Related Macular Degeneration is the biggest cause of optical disabilities in western society. The inevitability of the growth of age related disorders increasingly casts a shadow over an ageing population. Over 3 million people in the UK suffer some form of vision impairment through age related macular degeneration.

AMD is classified as either wet (neovascular) or dry (non-neovascular). About 10% of patients who suffer from macular degeneration have wet AMD. This type occurs when new vessels form to improve the blood supply to oxygen-deprived retinal tissue. However, the new vessels are very delicate and break easily, causing bleeding and damage to surrounding tissue. Dry macular degeneration, although more common, typically results in a less severe, more gradual loss of vision. It is much more common and is characterized by drusen and loss of pigment in the retina. Drusen are small, yellowish deposits that form within the layers of the retina.

Over the next 25 years 50% of over people 75 years old will be affected by ARMD. The onset of ARMD eventually reduces the patient to a world without sight drastically affecting their navigation, basic skills and independence. The eyesight retreats from the centre of the vision leaving images from the periphery as the only source of light.

parliament and macular degeneration

The issue of Macular Degeneration has been raised in Parliament. Please follow the link below to read a report on the question asked by Anne Main MP for St Albans.

Parliamentary Report