Senior Health Care Spotlight: Macular Degeneration

An often overlooked aspect of senior health care, age-related macular degeneraton (AMD) is the number-one cause of blindness for people over age fifty-five in the U.S. The disease afflicts more people than glaucoma and cataracts put together.

Unbeknownst to them, millions of seniors face the risk of blindness from AMD. To boost the public's awareness of the disease, February has been named the month of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Awareness.

The disease involves the gradual deterioration of the macula, which is a tiny but critical portion of the retina, or the eye's posterior inner covering. The crisp center vision necessary for endeavors like driving, reading, and knitting is made possible by the macula.

Macular degeneration may result in sudden or gradual vision loss. Risk factors include advancing age, family history, nicotine use, and high blood pressure.