Visual Impairment Comes in Many Forms

The purpose of this article is to explore other eye conditions besides AMD (age-related macular degeneration). There are many and they do not all fall into the category of dry or wet macular degeneration, but are nonetheless concerning.

Also, I want to take a minute and recognize the people with MMD (myopic macular degeneration), Stargardt’s disease, and other serious eye conditions.

Living with various eye conditions

Many of these people are members of our site and all too often go unmentioned. My heart goes out to them and I just want them to know that our site does cover these diseases. If you do a search and enter the keyword, you will find much has already been written about their disease.

Just some of the eye conditions that are prevalent in our society:

• Wet AMD OR exudative OR neovascular AMD represents only 10% of AMD diagnoses. And is usually treated with eye injections of anti-VEGF medicine to control blood vessels that leak fluid or blood into the macula.
• Dry AMD in the early and intermediate stages is monitored and treated with AREDS2 vitamin/mineral supplements, along with diet and a healthy lifestyle.
• Myopic macular degeneration or MMD. MMD is a leading cause of visual impairment to those 50 years old or younger. Some forms of MMD also require anti-VEGF injections. Worldwide, the prevalence of MMD ranges form 0.9%-3.1% (1)
• ‘Stargardt disease, also known as Stargardt macular dystrophy is another less common eye disease. It can cause progressive degeneration of the macula. This disease is an inherited disorder, sometimes referred to as juvenile macular degeneration.

Making the most of this resource

That’s not all of the eye diseases but encompasses a large portion of visual impairment. I just want to reiterate, this site is vast and deep with information.

If you log onto the website, you can do a search in the upper left corner and find info on a myriad of topics. (I’m speaking of the MacularDegeneration.net website, not our Facebook page).

A side conversation on squinting

In a more light-hearted vein, let’s explore “squinting” as a topic.

People have observed that I squint a lot! Sometimes I frown while I’m doing it. Why is that?  Well, a small amount of the increased clarity of vision is due to changing the shape of the eye as we squint.

Squinting reduces a small amount of focused central light rays are allowed into the eye. This prevents the unfocused light rays in the periphery from reaching the retina. Voila! The result is better vision. All the while, wishing not to look like a squinty-eyed ogre. (Me, at times).

Is squinting bad for my eyes?

Eye squinting in itself is not a harmful habit. It won't harm your vision or your eye health. However, if you may find yourself squinting in order to focus on things up close or far away. This can be an indication that you have a refractive error (i.e., need new glasses).

Other topics

Like eye twitching, bulging eyes, eye redness, drooping eyes or eyelids. Wait, there’s more! Nystagmus, geographic atrophy, double vision, foreign body sensation, blurred vision, eye redness, sleeping with eyes slightly open, etc. But that’s for another day and time. Try the search function if you want to learn more about these topics. 

I wish us all well on our shared journey.

Editor's Note: As of August 2023, 2 drugs known as complement inhibitors — Syfovre® and Izervay™ — have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat geographic atrophy (GA).