Juvenile macular degeneration is a kind of eye disease in which macula of an eye i.e. the center of the inner lining of eye is affected. Macula is situated in the center of retina and this helps us to visualize things minutely. In this disease, the light sensitive cells of macula are either damaged or begin to malfunction.
An attack on macula can lead to blindness or blurred vision. Young children rather than adults are susceptible to this disease. In this disease a patient suffers from watering of eyes. This disease can deter a person from perusing minute details. It has been noticed that, those who are under twenty years of age are venerable to Juvenile macular degeneration. American Academy of Ophthalmology avers the fact that this disease is the prominent cause of blindness. It has been observed that this disease generally doesn’t generally affect both eyes.
Causes of Juvenile Macular Degeneration
Genetic mutation is one of the prominent causes of Juvenile macular degeneration. Genetic mutation can affect adversely the macular cells of retina. Inheritance of an autosomal recession is one of the prominent causes of this disease. The disease may be initiated at the age of twelve and the symptoms of this disease begin to exert their influence when a person is thirty or forty years old. Involution macular degeneration is one of the prominent causes of this disease. The tissues in the macula are thinned and damaged in this situation.
A thin tissue protects macula from noxious substances. This tissue isolates macula from blood vessels that nourish eyes. A break in these blood vessels can generate some scar tissues. This can hamper macula, and in turn will hamper the vision of a person. Blurred and distorted vision is the direct result of this disease. This is called as exudate macular degeneration. This is also one of the prominent causes of this disease. Infection, inflammation and injury can also cause this disease. As the tissue of macula is very delicate, a minute change can affect it can disrupt the normal vision of a person.
Types of Juvenile Macular Degeneration
Best’s vitelliform is one of common types of Juvenile macular degeneration. In this type, a problematic gene is inherited which later initiates some problems in eyes. A child has fifty percent chance of attaining this defective gene from his/her parents. Another common type of Juvenile macular degeneration is Stargardt’s disease. A child has one-fourth chance of attaining this defective gene from his/her parents.
Symptoms of Juvenile Macular Degeneration
The symptoms of this disease are obvious and can be easily traced. A blurred vision is the prominent symptom of Juvenile macular degeneration. When a person is affected by this disease, he will face tremendous amount of difficulties in writing, reading, recognizing someone or performing some simple tasks because of the obscure vision. A person can experience a clear peripheral vision despite of being affected by this disease. Total blindness is not the symptom of this disease. Further,
Treatment for Juvenile Macular Degeneration
Juvenile macular degeneration cannot be cured but treatment has been evolved to restrict the severity of this disease. An early detection of this disease can assist a patient to start treatment at the very initial stage. If this disease can be detected early, argon laser treatment can be used to ensure the fact that a person will not lose eyesight completely. Laser therapy is becoming very popular in dealing with this particular disease. In argon laser treatment, green beams are used to generate better result by destroying harmful blood cells without hampering any parts of an eye. By using the enhanced version of this laser technology, practitioners now can destroy only those blood cells which are harmful and diseased. This therapy doesn’t take too long time and a patient can return home within a short span of time.
Advice:
Some practitioners suggest intake of minerals and vitamins so that a person can resist Juvenile macular degeneration but the effectivity of this is still disputable. It is advisable to visit an eye doctor immediately if one shows symptoms of this malaise.
