I recently had an eye exam and was told I have "drusen." They said it is where deposits form on the retina. Could you explain more about this condition?

J.

As people grow older, certain changes can occur in the area of the eye's retina involved in central vision (the macula). Some of these changes, called drusen, are basically deposits of waste material. While patients cannot notice these deposits, they are visible to eye doctors during eye exams. Drusen typically appear after the age of 55 and are most common in people of European descent. Drusen are very rare in African Americans.

If drusen are detected on an eye exam, doctors classify the patient as having macular degeneration. However, it is important to note that many patients with drusen will continue to have good vision for decades after these deposits are first spotted. Some patients with drusen will eventually develop deterioration of the retina and experience a mild loss of vision. A tiny percentage of patients will develop the "wet" form of macular degeneration, in which abnormal blood vessels develop under the retina and leak blood and fluid. This leakage can result in swelling of the retina and lead to permanent loss of vision. There are several different types of drusen, and patients who have large, "soft" drusen associated with pigment changes appear to have a higher risk of developing "wet" macular degeneration.

When patients are told they have drusen, they often ask what they can do to lower their risk of suffering vision loss from macular degeneration. One controversial approach is boosting dietary intake of foods or supplements containing a class of nutrients called carotenoids, specifically lutein and zeaxanthine. Research has found that retinas of patients with macular degeneration have decreased levels of carotenoids, and that the dietary intake of carotenoids can boost carotenoid levels within the retina. However, to date, no studies have conclusively shown that patients who increase their dietary intake of carotenoids face a decreased risk of vision loss.