Age-related macular degeneration

For a lay person:

Age-related macular degeneration affects the centre of the retina, which gives sharp central vision. It makes reading, faces and fine detail harder to see, while side vision is usually spared.

For a trained medical person:

Dry AMD (drusen, geographic atrophy) and wet AMD (choroidal neovascularisation). Wet AMD is treated with anti-VEGF injections; AREDS2 supplements may slow intermediate disease.

In Chinese medicine:

Flaws and Sionneau's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency; Spleen and Kidney Yang Deficiency; Qi and blood deficiency with qi stagnation and blood stasis; Q i, blood, yin and yang deficiency. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: See an eye doctor urgently for sudden distortion or loss of central vision.