Search

The macula is part of the retina at the back of the eye. It’s a round, yellow spot that has a slight oval shape and 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.

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.

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.

Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is a blockage of a retinal vein. It is a common cause of sudden painless reduction in vision in people over 60. The blockage of a vein causes blood and other fluids to leak into the retina, which causes damage that reduces vision.

The retina is a light-sensitive layer of tissue lining the back of the eye. The macula is a small area at the centre of the retina responsible for all of our central vision, most of our colour vision, and the fine detail we see.

Myopia, pathological myopia and myopic macular degeneration

Myopic macular degeneration is a type of macular degeneration that occurs in people with severe myopia.

Stargardt disease is a genetic condition caused by a tiny alteration in a single gene. It is also known as fundus flavimaculatus and is the most common form of macular dystrophy. It affects approximately one in 10,000 people and affects both males and females.

This is a group of five related macular conditions caused by mistakes or mutations in a gene called BEST1.