12/02/2025
It’s Geographic Atrophy (GA) Awareness Week!
GA is an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). GA affects around 20% of all people that have AMD, and about 1 million people in the United States have GA.
GA occurs when the central macula of your eye experiences cell death, aka atrophy. As a result, one might have a dim or dark spot in their central or near central vision. However, there may be no noticeable symptoms in the early stages of the disease.
Some vision changes that would be notable are:
✨Difficulty seeing the detail in your central vision. Like when recognizing someone’s face, while driving, or when reading up close.
✨Numbers and letters disappear while you are reading.
✨Needing lots of extra light when reading.
✨Trouble seeing in low light.
✨A dim or dark spot in your central or near central vision.
There are also multiple lifestyle habits and demographics that have an increased risk of developing GA. These would be:
✨Having a family history of AMD
✨Being over the age of 60
✨Caucasian ethnicity
✨Smoking
✨Health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
✨Poor dietary intake of fruits and vegetables (specifically dark leafy green vegetables).
If you or a loved one are experiencing any of these symptoms or have these risk factors, we’re here to help.
For questions or to schedule an eye exam, please call us at (262) 421-4412.
