What is Yellow Spot Disease (Age-Related Macular Degeneration)?
Yellow Spot Disease; Age-related changes in our body prepare the ground for the formation of some diseases. Yellow Spot Disease, known as macular degeneration, is one of them.
The Macula is the name of the place in the center of the retina, which is the nerve layer of our eye, it is also called the yellow spot. We do most of our daily tasks, such as driving, reading, recognizing faces, watching television, thanks to the detailed vision formed by the macula.
When a disease occurs in our macula, our central vision is impaired and we find it difficult to perform tasks that require detailed vision. In macular degeneration, age-related changes in our macula damage the visual cells and impair our vision.
In whom does macular degeneration occur?
The most important risk factor for macular degeneration is advancing age. Therefore, elderly people are most at risk. Apart from this, family history, hypertension and heart disease and smoking are other known risk factors.
Yellow spot disease is one of the most common causes of blindness in developed countries. As of 2020, it is thought that there are around 200 million patients with macular degeneration in the world.
Are there different types of macular degeneration?
There are two types of macular degeneration. These are wet type and dry type macular degeneration.
Dry type macular degeneration: 90% of patients are dry type. As a result of the accumulation of waste material in the macula, damage to the visual cells occurs. Vision loss occurs at a very slow rate, over many years. Dry type macular degeneration can sometimes turn into wet type.
Wet type macular degeneration: Although 10% of the patients are in this group, the main serious vision loss is observed in the wet type.
As a result of abnormal vascular development under the retina, bleeding and fluid accumulation occur in the retina. This bleeding and fluid damage retinal cells and cause vision loss. With the wet type, vision loss develops suddenly and progresses rapidly.
What are the symptoms of yellow spot disease?
The most common symptom is decreased vision. Seeing objects as curved, for example, seeing door edges as curved rather than straight, is also an important symptom.
Apart from these, there may be complaints such as needing more light when reading, seeing colors pale, seeing shadows or dark spots on objects. Patients may have difficulty recognizing faces.
Who should consult an ophthalmologist?
Anyone with the above symptoms should consult an ophthalmologist as soon as possible, especially if they are over the age of 50. Apart from this, people with a family history of macular degeneration and a history of smoking are advised to have an eye examination, even at an early age.
What tests are performed in the diagnosis of macular degeneration?
After the routine eye examination, the pupils are dilated with drops and the back of the eye (macula) is examined with special lenses.
If macular degeneration is suspected, the diagnosis is confirmed by eye angiography and optical coherence tomography (OCT-eye tomography) when the ophthalmologist deems it necessary. Response to treatment and follow-up of the disease is also done by OCT examination.
What is Amsler Grid test?
Amsler Grid Test test is a simple test that evaluates the central macula. Patients can also use this test for self-examination at home. After putting on the reading glasses, the point in the middle of the paper is looked at from a distance of 30 cm, first with one eye and then with the other eye.
If the findings such as curvature, effacement, and dark area are observed in the lines, it is recommended to consult a doctor immediately.
What is the treatment for dry type macular degeneration?
There is still no cure for dry type macular degeneration. If the disease is detected early, food supplements containing antioxidants, vitamins and omega-3, specially produced for dry type macular degeneration, can slow down the progression of the disease.
A diet containing healthy green vegetables and fish has been shown to have a positive effect. If you smoke, you should definitely quit.
What is the treatment for wet type macular degeneration?
The aim of the treatment of wet type macular degeneration is to stop the progression of the disease, to maintain the current level of vision and to increase vision if it can be diagnosed early. Today, the most common treatment is drug injection into the eye.
Drugs given intraocularly reduce the formation of abnormal vessels and reduce vascular permeability. In this way, undesirable events such as bleeding and fluid accumulation are prevented and further damage to the retina is prevented.
The drugs given into the eye will be cleared from the eye after a while and their effectiveness will end. If the patient does not come to regular controls, the disease will be activated again.
For this reason, intraocular drug injections are repeated at regular intervals. The success of the treatment depends on the patient’s compliance with the treatment and the regular treatment.