What is Stargardt disease?

Stargardt disease is sometimes called juvenile macular dystrophy as it can first appear between the ages of ten to 20.

It causes changes to the macula, an area of light receptive cells the size of a grain of rice in the retina, in the back of the eye.

The macula is responsible for central vision, most colour vision and fine detail.

At first, the disease causes unclear and then sometimes distorted or blurred vision. Peripheral vision is not usually affected.

Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light may cause further retinal damage so patients are advised to wear sunglasses when they are outdoors.

Recently, the gene responsible for most cases of Stargardt disease has been identified, and given a name – ABCA4.

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