Stargardt's.org - Stargardt's disease information
What is Stargardt's? StargardtŐs Disease is also known as Juvenile Onset Macular Degeneration, Fundus Flavimaculatus, and Stargardt Macular Dystrophy. It is form of macular dystrophy that begins early in life. German ophthalmologist, Dr. Karl Stargardt first described this condition in 1901 giving it its name. It is one of the most common forms of juvenile macular degeneration. StargardtŐs disease may occur in one of every 10,000 -20,000 children over the age 6 and is usually diagnosed before the age of 20. Boys and girls are equally affected by this condition. Over 25,000 Americans have StargardtŐs disease. StargardtŐs typically begins to damage both eyes somewhere between the ages of 6 and 20, although visual impairment may not be apparent until as late as age 40. Children first notice difficulty in reading, complaining of gray, black or hazy spots in the center of their vision. A longer length of time is needed to adjust between light and dark environments. Vision loss is usually slow until the 20/40 level, often rapidly progressing to the 20/200 (legal blindness) level. In some cases, vision can degenerate to 10/200 in a period of months. Peripheral vision and night vision are not lost for most people, but color vision will likely be affected in later stages.
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