- Maculopathy
- Diabetic Retinopathy
Ophthalmic diseases
MACULOPATHY
The macula is responsible for central vision, is an oval-shaped highly pigmented yellow spot near the center of the retina of the human eye. It has a diameter of around 5 mm and is often histologically defined as having two or more layers of ganglion cells. Because the macula is yellow in color it absorbs excess blue and ultraviolet light that enter the eye, and acts as a natural sunblock or sunglasses for this area of the retina. Structures in the macula are specialized for high acuity vision. Damage to the macula will result in loss of central vision, the progressive destruction of the macula is a disease known as macular degeneration and can sometimes lead to the creation of a macular hole. Macular holes are rarely caused by trauma, but if a severe blow is delivered it can burst the blood vessels going to the macula, destroying it. A maculopathy is any pathological condition of the macula.
Age-Related Macular Degeneration is a degenerative maculopathy associated with progressive sight loss. It is characterized by changes in pigmentation in the Retinal . Usually affects older adults mad results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field because of damage to the retina. Macular degeneration can advance to legal blindness and inability to drive, can make it difficult or impossible to read or recognize faces, although enough peripheral vision remains to allow other activities of daily life. The inner layer of the eye is the retina, which contains nerves that communicate sight; behind the retina is the choroid, which contains the blood supply to the macula.
The dry macular degeneration form, begins with characteristic yellow deposits in the macula, cellular debris called drusen, they accumulate between the retina and the choroid, and the retina can become detached or results from atrophy to the retinal pigment epithelial layer below the retina, which causes vision loss through loss of photoreceptors (rods and cones) in the central part of the eye.
In the wet form, which is more severe, blood vessels grow up from the choroid behind the retina, and the retina can also become detached. Causes vision loss due to abnormal blood vessel growth, ultimately leading to blood and protein leakage below the macula. Bleeding, leaking, and scarring from these blood vessels eventually cause irreversible damage to the photoreceptors and rapid vision loss if left untreated.
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