Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no symptoms. Over time, however, some people experience a gradual worsening of vision that may affect one or both eyes. While it does not result in complete blindness, loss of central vision can make it hard to recognize faces, drive, read, or perform other activities of daily life. Visual hallucinations may also occur but these do not represent a mental illness.Macular degeneration typically occurs in older people. Genetic factors and smoking also play a role. It is due to damage to the macula of the retina. Diagnosis is by a complete eye exam. The severity is divided into early, intermediate, and late types. The late type is additionally divided into "dry" and "wet" forms with the dry form making up 90% of cases.The difference between the two forms is the change of macula. Those with dry form AMD have drusen, cellular debris in their macula that gradually damages light-sensitive cells and leads to vision loss. In wet form AMD, blood vessels grow under the macula, causing blood and fluid to leak into the retina.Preventive efforts include exercising, eating well, and not smoking. There is no cure or treatment that returns vision already lost. In the wet form, anti-VEGF medication injected into the eye or less commonly laser coagulation or photodynamic therapy may slow worsening.
BPH typically begins after the age of 40. Half of males age 50 and over are affected. After the age of 80, that figure climbs to as high as about 90% of males affected. Although prostate specific antigen levels may be elevated in males with BPH, the condition does not increase the risk of prostate cancer. Signs and symptoms
BPH is the most common cause of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), which are divided into storage, voiding, and symptoms which occur after urination. Storage symptoms include the need to urinate frequently, waking at night to urinate, urgency (compelling need to void that cannot be deferred), involuntary urination, including involuntary urination at night, or urge incontinence (urine leak following a strong sudden need to urinate). Voiding symptoms include urinary hesitancy (a delay between trying to urinate and the flow actually beginning), intermittency (not continuous), involuntary interruption of voiding, weak urinary stream, straining to void, a sensation of incomplete emptying, and uncontrollable leaking after the end of urination. These symptoms may be accompanied by bladder pain or pain while urinating, called dysuria.Bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) can be caused by BPH. Symptoms are abdominal pain, a continuous feeling of a full bladder, frequent urination, acute urinary retention (inability to urinate), pain during urination (dysuria), problems starting urination (urinary hesitancy), slow urine flow, starting and stopping (urinary intermittency), and nocturia.BPH can be a progressive disease, especially if left untreated. Incomplete voiding results in residual urine or urinary stasis, which can lead to an increased risk of urinary tract infection.