What's going on when I see yellow spots?

As people age, the whites of their eyes are not as clear and transparent as before, and slowly turn yellow. Yellow spots in the eyes are a common symptom. Usually, these yellow spots caused by aging will not cause any effect on vision. It is recommended to avoid strong light sources as much as possible and quit smoking and drinking as soon as possible. Keep your blood sugar and blood pressure under control. If necessary, wearing sunglasses can have a certain preventive effect on macular degeneration.

What diseases will occur if there is a problem with the macula?

It can be simply divided into two categories: the first category is some diseases unique to the macula. Common ones are:

1. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

This is a common eye disease that is closely related to aging. The retina in the macular area may undergo various changes such as atrophy, hemorrhage, exudation, neovascularization, scarring, etc., which have a significant impact on vision.

2. Epiretinal membrane

An abnormal fibroproliferative membrane appears in front of the macula. It usually develops slowly and requires surgical treatment when vision deteriorates significantly.

3. Macular hole

Long-term epiretinal membrane or trauma, high myopia and other reasons can cause macula holes, that is, the retinal tissue in the macula is disconnected and defective, forming a "hole". In most cases, surgery is required.

In addition, there are central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC), central exudative chorioretinopathy (CCH), polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), Stargardt disease, etc.

The second type is caused by other lesions affecting the macula. Common ones are:

1. Diabetic retinopathy

Diabetes can lead to a variety of retinopathy and eventually blindness. Abnormalities in retinal capillary circulation can lead to long-term retinal edema, which further forms macular cystoid edema. It is often not until this time that patients feel a significant decrease in vision.

So I would like to remind patients with diabetes again to go to an ophthalmologist for regular fundus examinations.

2. Retinal detachment

Since many retinal detachments start in the periphery, the initial sensation is that a certain direction of vision is blocked. If you do not seek medical treatment in time and the detachment develops to the macula, your vision will be significantly reduced and the effect of surgery will not be good.

3. High myopia fundus lesions

Usually, myopia of more than 600 degrees is called high myopia. High myopia can cause the multiple layers of eyeball tissue to atrophy and thin, and the macula may develop bleeding, holes and other lesions. Once the lesions involve the macula, the treatment effect is not good.

Therefore, people with severe myopia should have their eyes checked regularly, once a year is recommended.

There are also tissue diseases around the macula, such as retinal arteriovenous occlusion and uveitis, which can affect the macula.