Macular Degeneration is characterized by the thinning and the inevitable destruction of the tissues supporting the macular area of the eye.
It starts just as a collection of lipid and waste matters along the area of the tissue; it clogs it, decreasing oxygen supply and making it impossible for the eye to undergo the normal cleansing process.
The rods and cone cells of the eyes depend so much on the oxygen supply and without it, it could asphyxiate. In wet Macular degeneration, there is an overgrowth of blood vessels in the tissues along the macular area of the eye, thus causing the rapid drop in the levels of oxygen.
Why does this occur? What is the co-relation of waste and lipid accumulation to the decrease in the level of oxygen?
Two theories were formulated to give answer to these questions:
1. It could be due to insufficiency of oxygen in the blood vessels.
Blood vessels are known to bring clean and dirty blood to and away from the body, respectively. In a patient suffering from Macular degeneration, the macula of the eye is no longer functioning efficiently to remove harmful waste from the body. This eventually leads to the clogging of the macula and the deprivation of these tissues of the oxygen that they need. When the oxygen supply in the macula of the eye is decreased, this will cause damage to the rods and cones in the area.
In wet AMD, new blood vessels grow behind the retina of the eye in an attempt to deliver more oxygen to the damaged tissues. This unwanted reaction of the body causes more damage because these brand new vessels are often very weak and so rupture easily, causing leaks in the eyes.
2. It could be the harmful accumulation of waste matter.
In this theory, all the blame is given to the waste substances that accumulate on the area. When rods and cone cells process light, they need to metabolize oxygen and they make use of the disposable lipid tips. Once used, the tips are shed off and are supposedly taken out of the body as waste.
The normal process of elimination goes very well, so the waste products are successfully taken out, but on a person with AMD, the tips will lack the specific “handles” that identifies them against unused tips so they remain in the macula of the eye to accumulate.
It is still unknown what really causes it. It may be one of the above theories or it could be a combination of both. Regardless of what it is, it is still due to the invasion of free radicals. Having ample knowledge about the occurrence of the disease, as well as its effects on the body can significantly aid in the prevention of the disease.
