Dry macular degeneration is caused when drusen begin to accumulate in and around the macula.

CNN: New techniques slow progress of age-related vision loss

In early AMD, people have no vision loss or other symptoms, but do have yellow deposits in the retina called drusen.

CNN: Fish, olive oil, nuts good for eyes too, more studies find

Drusen, those yellowish deposits, are debris from deteriorating tissue.

CNN: New techniques slow progress of age-related vision loss

Some people with early AMD (but not all of them) will develop late AMD, in which a person has larger drusen and a blurred area at the center of their visual field.

CNN: Fish, olive oil, nuts good for eyes too, more studies find

Its hallmark is yellowish deposits of debris called drusen that grow at the back of the eye, damaging the macula, the tiny but crucial section of the retina responsible for central vision.

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