Explores how researchers place calcium deposits in the eye a possible cause of macular degeneration.
Macular
degeneration, age-related, this is an eye incurable disease and is the
leading cause of blindness in people 55 years or older. The disease affects more than 10 million people in the nation and is caused by a breakdown in the central part of the retina. A person with the disease have trouble reading, lead, recognize faces or colors and see the details of an object.
Dry Macular Degeneration: What is it?
Macular degeneration is a chronic eye and causes loss of vision. It is characterized by a breakdown of the macula, or the center of the retina. There are two types of macular degeneration: dry and wet sauna with dry is the most common. With wet macular degeneration, blood vessels grow in the back of the eye and leak blood and fluid. With
this disease, degeneration may worsen the quality of life of a person,
causing blurred vision or a blind spot in the center of the path of
seeing. A person with central vision needed to do many things, as a unit, read and recognize faces.
SymptomsDry macular degeneration often have symptoms that develop gradually. A person may notice some or all of the following changes:
- Need brighter light when reading, or it comes to do the job
- Experience greater difficulty adapting to low light levels, for example, for a room with low light
- Having a hard time with the blurring effect of printed words
- A decrease in the intensity of bright colors
- Inability to recognize faces
- A gradual increase in the turbidity of the central vision or overview
- Twisted or distorted central vision
- A blur or blind in the center of the visual field of a
- Hallucinations of geometric shapes or people, in situations involving advanced macular degeneration
CausesThe exact cause of macular degeneration is currently unknown, but sometimes they grow eyes. The
disease occurs in families and may have a variety of proteins and genes
that are associated with the wet and dry macular degeneration. In twin studies, it was shown that genetic factors play an important role in the cause. Other things that could cause this condition include pigmentation with
light, color of the iris, sun exposure, medications and have a high
degree of myopia.
Risk factors related to macular degenerationThere are certain factors that can increase the risk of developing macular degeneration, a person including:
Age: The risk of macular degeneration increases as a person ages, especially when someone replies 50 years of age. The disease is most common in people 65 years of age.
Family history: Having a family history of this disease mean that a person is more likely to develop.
Course: People of the white race are more often affected by macular degeneration than those of other races.
Smoking: Those who smoke have an increased risk of developing the disease.
Obesity: Being morbidly obese increases the chances of early and
middle-stage macular degeneration pass for the most serious type of the
disease.
Poor diet: People who eat a poor diet limited in fruits and vegetables that may have an increased risk of this disease.
Cardiovascular disease: If a person has or had diseases that affect
the heart and blood vessels, can put them at greater risk of disease.
High cholesterol: After having the high cholesterol puts a person at increased risk of developing macular degeneration.
The treatments and medications for macular degenerationThere are no treatments that can reverse macular degeneration. However, this does not mean that there is always someone who is going to lose his sight. Dry
macular degeneration usually begins slowly and many people with the
disease can lead a productive life, normal quality of life, especially
if only one eye is affected. A doctor may recommend annual eye exams to monitor how progress of the condition.
According
to the National Eye Institute, Some people take high doses of
antioxidant vitamins and zinc preparations to reduce disease
progression. When the Organization survey, people can use the following formulations; 500 mg., Vitamin C, 400 IU of vitamin E, 15 mg of beta-carotene, 80 mg. zinc and 2 mg of copper.
Surgery
A
wide range of surgical treatment options are being investigated by
macular degeneration related to exudative age, if the patient does not
meet the requirements for laser surgery. These procedures include; Macular
translocation to a healthy area of the eye, the movement of the blood
submacular using gas and surgical removal of the membranes. In
the first Submacular surgical room which was published in 2004. It was
found that no change has increased stabilization surgery for bleeding
lesions choroidal neovascular, or improve the quality of vision of a
patient, but so to reduce the risk of severe vision.
Calcium depositsAccording
to new research from the University of Maryland School of Medicine,
scientists discovered small calcium phosphate deposits could be
responsible for the onset of macular degeneration. For the first time, these deposits have been directly associated with
the disease that affects millions and millions of Americans.
Richard
Thompson, Ph.D., and Imre Lengyel, Ph.D., an international scientific
research team studied samples of the retina of a group of elderly
patients and some had macular degeneration. They found macular degeneration signs containing small pieces or spherules called hydroxyapatite HAP calcium phosphate. This is common in the body and makes the bones and teeth, but never before attending the eyes.
Because
of the study results, researchers believe that the small hydroxyapatite
deposits accumulate over time and form a substance called drusen. It is believed that these proteins will prevent scope of nutrients to the eyes of light sensitive cells called "photoreceptors. "These photoreceptors are regularly recycled through cell methods. However, drusen formation traps proteins in the retina, causing worse accumulation. Until this study was conducted, no one could really understand how Druze and became clinically relevant.
Dr.
Thompson feels that the discovery of these calcium deposits opens new
avenues of research in the diagnosis and treatment of macular
degeneration, but the race will still be long and arduous.