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Condition

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) damages the part of the eye you use for sharp, central vision. It can make reading, driving and seeing faces harder, and early care helps.

Key points

Common signs
Blurry central vision, straight lines that look wavy, or a dark spot in the center of your vision.
Who’s at risk
Older adults, people who smoke and people with a family history of AMD.
How it’s found
A dilated eye exam, an Amsler grid check and detailed scans of the retina.
Treatment
There is no cure yet. A vitamin mix may slow some cases, and injections into the eye can treat wet AMD.
A smiling older woman wearing glasses

The macula is a small area at the center of the retina, the light-sensing layer at the back of your eye. It gives you the sharp, straight-ahead vision you use to read, drive and see faces. In age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the macula is damaged over time.

There are two forms:

  • Dry AMD is the most common. The macula slowly thins with age, and small yellow deposits called drusen build up under the retina. Vision usually changes slowly, over many years. In its late stage, called geographic atrophy, patches of the retina wear away and central vision is lost.
  • Wet AMD is less common but can cause vision loss much faster. It happens when abnormal blood vessels grow under the retina and leak fluid or blood.

Dry AMD can turn into wet AMD at any stage. AMD affects only your central vision. Your side vision stays, so AMD does not cause complete blindness.

Two boys holding balls, with a blurred smudge hiding their faces in the middle of the view
How macular degeneration can blur the center of what you look at, while side vision remains. Image: National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health.

Early AMD often has no symptoms. As it gets worse, you may notice:

  • Blurry or fuzzy central vision
  • Straight lines, like door frames, that look wavy or bent
  • A blurry or dark spot in the center of your vision
  • Colors that look less bright
  • A need for more light to read or do close work
  • Trouble adjusting when you go from bright light into a dim room
  • Trouble recognizing faces

AMD may affect one eye before the other. When the other eye still sees well, you may not notice changes, so check each eye on its own.

Noticing these?

Book a visit for macular degeneration

AMD is often found during a comprehensive eye exam, before you notice any changes. Your eye doctor will check your vision and widen (dilate) your pupils to look closely at the macula. They may ask you to look at a grid of straight lines, called an Amsler grid, to see whether any lines look wavy or missing. They will usually take detailed scans of the retina, called OCT, which can show fluid or thinning that is too small to see otherwise. Sometimes a special dye is used to show leaking blood vessels. These pictures help your eye doctor follow changes over time.

At Invision Care Optometry we use:

  • Amsler grid test

How we care for it at Invision Care Optometry

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