Disease Awareness #12 - Macular Degeneration

Macular Degeneration is close to my family.  You see my father in law has it.  I have never met him, but I can not wait to.  Shawn and his dad found each other several years ago after being apart since he was 6.  I did an internet search for his dad and found him in FL.  We live in PA and haven't been able to get down there.  When Ashleigh was 2, I was in FL.  Not that far from where he is.  I wished I had known then.

"Dry macular degeneration is a chronic eye disease that causes vision loss in the center of your field of vision. Dry macular degeneration is marked by deterioration of the macula (MAK-u-luh), which is in the center of the retina. The layer of tissue on the inside back wall of your eyeball." 

Awareness Month for Macular Degeneration is February.

There are 2 sites where I got information on Macular Degeneration: 

1. Mayo Clinic

2. Webmd

Symptoms:

The need for brighter light when reading or doing close work

Increasing difficulty adapting to low light levels, such as when entering a dimly lit restaurant

Increasing blurriness of printed words

A decrease in the intensity or brightness of colors

Difficulty recognizing faces

A gradual increase in the haziness of your central or overall vision

Crooked central vision

A blurred or blind spot in the center of your field of vision

Hallucinations of geometric shapes or people, in case of advanced macular degeneration

For more information, check out the 2 sites above or do a search for Macular Degeneration.

Thanks for reading,

Melissa