Stargardt’s Disease Some say eyes are the key to the soul. They see everything and hold so much emotion. It is easy to know what a person if feeling by the surface of the eye. What lies beneath the surface has been a question for decades. Scientists have spent years to find out. Now, we know. Stargardt’s Disease is a very interesting disease. This is also known as Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy [SMD]. This disease is a genetic eye disorder. It affects the macula, which is located in the retina. SMD makes visualizing hard. A pupil with this mutation may possible go blind. If they are not fully blind, then they have a hard time seeing details. SMD is a mutation in the ABCA4 gene, located on chromosome one. The ABCA4 gene created an important …show more content…
Getting around at night is difficult because it is harder to see in the dark. People who have this disease need to use their other senses more. For example, they may use their sense of sound to do daily needs. Adjusting to being legally blind may be hard also. Stargardt’s Disease normally develops around age nine. Someone may go nine years with perfect vision, to have no vision. This causes emotional trauma. It may be best to see a therapist during the stage of becoming blind. In order to live with this mutation, adjustments to this person’s life will need to occur. Most people who have this genetic disease knows how to use a cane. This helps going for walks, taking vacations, and simply traveling down the hallway. Canes’ also save lives. They detect where the street is and stops the user from going into the street. Every one in eight to ten thousand people have SMD. This is a fairly rare disease. Even a smaller portion of that goes fully blind. While this mutation can be unpleasant, it is a neutral mutation. Does is make life a little bit harder? Yes, it does. It doesn’t lessen the survival rate though. Being blind itself doesn’t affect survival. It can be dangerous when around streets, but anything is dangerous