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Macular disease is the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK and developed world. The macula is a tiny area of the retina at the back of the eye, which is only about the size of the grain of rice. It is responsible for our central vision, most fine detail of what we see and a lot of our colour vision too.

The macula is part of the retina at the back of the eye. It is only about 5mm across, but is responsible for our central vision, most of our colour vision and the fine detail of what we see. A healthy macula is about 250 microns (one quarter of a millimetre) thick.

Nearly 1.5m people in the UK have macular disease. It affects people of all ages. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common condition, generally affecting people over the age of 55. AMD is the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK, affecting more than 700,000 people.

Diabetic Macular Oedema (DMO) is a vision threatening complication of diabetes, macular oedema can also occur due to inflammation, retinal vein occlusion, surgery and other reasons, to understand more about these other causes visit our Macular oedema webpage.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) usually affects people over 50 but can happen earlier. Macular disease is the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK, with AMD affecting around 700,000 people.

Dry age-related macular disease (AMD) is a slow deterioration of the cells of the macula, often over many years, as the retinal cells die off and are not renewed. The term ‘dry’ does not mean the person has dry eyes, just that the condition is not wet AMD.

Geographic atrophy (GA) is the scientific term for late stage dry aged-related macular degeneration (AMD). It is called geographic atrophy, as the damage to the macula tends to start as patches of damage (or atrophy) that look like islands on a map when a doctor looks at the back of the eye.

Wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) develops when abnormal blood vessels grow into the macula. These leak blood or fluid which leads to scarring of the macula and rapid loss of central vision. Wet AMD can develop very suddenly, but it can now be treated if caught quickly. Fast referral to a hospital specialist is essential.

All parts of the body change as we age and it's normal to see differences in the way the retina looks in older people. There may be changes to the colour of the retina, and tiny, fatty deposits called drusen may appear.