About AMD
What causes AMD?
AMD occurs in two forms: wet and dry. In the dry type, the damage to the retina is due to the formation of small yellow deposits under the macula, known as drusen. This leads to a thinning and drying of the macula, causing it to lose its function.
About 10% of patients with dry AMD later progress to the wet form. Wet AMD occurs when abnormal blood vessels begin to grow underneath the retina. These new blood vessels tend to be very fragile and leak blood or fluid, which raise the macula from its normal place at the back of the eye.
Vision loss from wet AMD is faster and more noticeable than the loss due to dry AMD. The longer the abnormal blood vessels leak or grow, the more vision will be lost—so the earlier wet AMD is diagnosed, the better the patient's chances of preserving some or much of his or her central vision.
Loss of vision has a major impact on a person’s quality of life and independence, causing both economic and personal hardship.