Macular degeneration affects the macula. This is the part of your eye that allows your central vision. It does not hurt, but it causes cells in your macula to die.  As this deterioration or degeneration takes place, blurred central vision or a blind spot in the center of your visual field develops.

In some cases, this disease progresses so slowly that people notice little change in their vision. With other people, however, the disease advances faster and may lead to a loss of vision in both eyes.

Macular degeneration actually refers to a variety of eye diseases that affect your central vision. The most common eye disease is what is referred to as age-related macular degeneration.

There are 2 forms of age-related macular degeneration: dry and wet. The dry form of this disease is far more common than the wet.  About 85 to 90% of the cases of age-related macular degeneration are the dry form. The wet form, however, usually leads to more serious vision loss. In fact, the wet form is responsible for 90% of severe vision loss. The dry (atrophic) form involves a gradual blurring of your central vision. The wet (exudative or neovascular) form involves newly created abnormal blood vessels growing under the center of your macula.

Macular degeneration usually progresses painlessly and gradually. The effects of the wet form include:

§  A loss or decrease in your central vision
§  A central blurry spot
§  Visual distortions like straight lines appearing crooked or wavy, or objects appearing farther away or smaller than they should.

Effects of dry macular degeneration include:

• Increasing blurriness of printed words
• Difficulty recognizing faces
• A need for increasingly bright light when you are doing close work or reading
• A decrease in the intensity or brightness of colors
• Increasing difficulty adapting to low levels of light
• A gradual increase in the haziness of your overall vision
• A blind or blurred spot in the center of your visual field combined with a large
• drop in your visual acuity.

With either form of macular degeneration, one eye may see well for years while the other deteriorates. You may not notice much of a change because your good eye will compensate for the problem one.

Your lifestyle and vision are changed greatly when both of your eyes are affected. Some people experience hallucinations with macular degeneration.

You or a loved one may be disabled and in need of financial assistance because of the disability caused by macular degeneration. Have you applied and been denied by the Social Security Administration when you applied for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits?

If you decide to appeal the denial by the Social Security Administration, always remember. People who are represented by a caring disability attorney like the one you will find at socialsecurityhome.com are approved more often than those without a lawyer.

Do not wait. Contact the confident disability attorney at socialsecurityhome.com, today.