Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that may get worse over time. It happens when the small central portion of your retina, called the macula, wears down.

There are two main types of age-related macular degeneration:

Dry form. People with this may have yellow deposits, called drusen, in their macula. But as they get bigger and more numerous, they might dim or distort your vision.

Wet form. Blood vessels grow from underneath your macula. These blood vessels leak blood and fluid into your retina, causing your vision to become distorted, and leading to permanent loss of central vision.

Most people with macular degeneration have the dry form, but the dry form can lead to the wet form.

Symptoms of macular degeneration may include: Your vision might be blurry, and it may be hard to read fine print or drive, Dark, blurry areas in the center of your vision.

Macular degeneration may have something to do with your genes. Smoking, having high blood pressure or high cholesterol, obesity, eating lots of saturated fat, being light-skinned, being female, and having a light eye color are also risk factors.

There’s no cure for macular degeneration. Treatment may slow it down or keep you from losing too much of your vision.

A large study found that some people with dry AMD could slow the disease by taking supplements of vitamins C and E, lutein, zeaxanthin, zinc, and copper.