Dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) occurs when protein clumps form beneath the retina and lead to central vision loss. While no treatment exists for this form of AMD, certain vitamins and minerals can help slow its progress.

Wet ARMD occurs when abnormal blood vessels form beneath the retina and leak fluid, causing a rapid loss of central vision. For effective wet ARMD treatments, injection or laser procedures may be the preferred choices.

Anti-VEGF Drugs

Recently, research on age-related macular degeneration has yielded new treatments. Anti-VEGF inhibitors – or “vascular endothelial growth factor”) inhibiting drugs – block the action of proteins which cause blood vessels to proliferate and leak within the retina, thus slowing macular edema and preventing vision loss for many patients with Neovascular AMD.

Anti-VEGF medications are administered through intravitreal injection into the eye. Common anti-VEGF treatments include bevacizumab (Avastin), ranibizumab (Lucentis), and aflibercept (Eylea). While each drug works differently, all three share one common goal – slowing progression of wet AMD while protecting vision by decreasing macular edema.

Anti-VEGF injections will often prevent or delay vision loss from wet AMD; however, their effectiveness may differ when treating dry AMD with advanced geographic atrophy (GA), due to possible complications like vitreous hemorrhage or retinal tears.

Researchers are exploring new medications to decrease both injection frequency and duration. One promising agent, recently approved by the FDA to treat neovascular AMD, is brolucizumab. While belonging to the anti-VEGF family like bevacizumab and ranibizumab, brolucizumab targets specific proteins responsible for GA instead.

Steroid eye drops have also proven helpful in treating wet macular degeneration; however, they cannot stop its progression and cannot provide a permanent cure. Are not recommended in patients with advanced dry AMD who have developed extensive geographic atrophy and/or experienced rapid vision loss. In such a scenario, it is advisable to consult an ophthalmologist (Eye M.D.). Photodynamic therapy or laser surgery may also be recommended as potential treatments, while a clinical trial to test the efficacy of another anti-VEGF medication, AZ2171 (cediranib), has begun in Europe; it targets multiple proteins implicated in wet AMD’s pathogenesis including VEGF and angiogenic factors; thus the outcome of this research study should provide further clarity as to its usefulness as an efficient and convenient treatment option.

Laser Surgery

If diagnosed with wet macular degeneration, laser surgery will likely be your solution. This involves shining a laser light beam on abnormal blood vessels beneath your retina in order to shrink their number and stop any leakage that might otherwise occur. Your surgeon may use an eyedrop anesthetic as part of this procedure as well.

Wet AMD treatments may help slow vision loss, though they cannot restore lost central vision. You will still be able to perceive fine details around you; however, objects will no longer appear sharply focused or colors as vibrantly. Some people are at greater risk than others for wet AMD; these include those with family histories of wet AMD, heart disease or high cholesterol levels.

90 percent of those diagnosed with macular degeneration have the dry form. It occurs when the macula thins with age and tiny clumps of protein known as drusen form. While they don’t cause vision loss directly, as they expand they increase your risk for wet AMD.

Wet AMD occurs when abnormal blood vessels form under the retina and leak blood or fluid into the macula, leading to scarring that leads to loss of central vision. It is the more serious form of AMD and can develop quickly; treatment options for it may also be limited compared to dry AMD. Wet AMD can be more dangerous due to being difficult to treat.

Laser surgery may help treat wet AMD, though it does not restore vision that has already been lost. Instead, laser treatment helps prevent further damage while slowing the progression of the disease. You may even receive this therapy along with anti-VEGF drugs.

No cure exists for AMD; however, you can help to stave off vision loss by visiting an ophthalmologist at least annually for a medical exam. If you are at high risk of macular degeneration (especially if over 60), more frequent visits should be scheduled with them as soon as possible. Sunglasses should also be worn to protect eyes as well as avoidance of smoking, high levels of fat consumption and prolonged sunlight exposure.

Fluorescein Angiography

The retina, which covers the back of your eye, converts light into impulses that send visual signals directly to your brain. Central vision comes from the macula, a small area composed of millions of light-sensitive cells. Damaged macular cells cannot deliver clear messages to your brain anymore and reading, driving and recognising faces become difficult or impossible; dry AMD causes gradual loss while wet macular degeneration occurs when abnormal blood vessels form under retina and leak blood and fluid into your eye; this raises macular off its normal position at back of eye leading to blurring and distortion of central vision resulting in blurriness or distortion causing blurriness or distortion resulting in blurry and distortion of central vision.

An ophthalmic fluorescein angiogram is a unique test that allows your doctor to photograph retinal blood vessels by injecting fluorescent dyes such as fluorescein or indocyanine green (ICG). This procedure helps confirm diagnoses, set treatment protocols and provide permanent documentation of their condition.

Your eye care provider will begin by dilatation your pupils using special eye drops, followed by taking photos of the inside of your eye with a camera. After some minutes have passed, fluorescent dye will be injected into a vein in your arm and travel quickly towards retina in back of eye where special camera takes pictures of blood vessels.

Orange dye may give your skin, particularly near the injection site, a temporary orange tint. Furthermore, it could make urine appear orange for up to 24 hours while its presence leaves your system.

Though no cure exists for dry AMD, central Louisiana retina specialists can suggest lifestyle modifications to slow its progress and keep it from worsening. Your physician will advise eating a well-balanced diet rich in vitamins A and C; quitting smoking; protecting eyes from UV rays with UV glasses; and wearing sunglasses as preventive measures.

Optical Coherence Tomography

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a biomedical imaging technology that utilizes an invisible beam of infrared light to produce high-resolution cross sectional views of your retina, creating high resolution cross sectional views of it in real time. The process is completely noninvasive and can be performed at your eye doctor’s clinic without risk. OCT allows them to assess thickness differences among retinal layers as well as any leaky blood vessels which could indicate advanced stages of AMD.

Age-related macular degeneration cannot currently be cured, though certain vitamins and minerals may help slow its progress. By taking supplements that maintain peripheral vision, taking these vitamins may also help preserve side (peripheral) vision. An Amsler grid, a checkerboard-like pattern with straight lines that may appear wavy or fuzzy as an early indicator of AMD, can provide insight into your own progress.

Under wet AMD, abnormal blood vessels may form under the retina and cause leakage or edema of macula tissue, leading to blurry central vision and permanent loss of vision. Therefore, it’s crucial to seek medical advice as soon as you notice changes to your central vision or an decrease in color intensity.

Your eye doctor can diagnose wet ARMD by using an ophthalmoscope to probe the back of your eye for fluid or debris, as well as injecting light-sensitive dye into it. A fluorescein angiography test may also be conducted to detect new blood vessels leaking and determine their locations.

Your eye doctor may suggest treatments like laser surgery or anti-VEGF drugs to stop the formation of new blood vessels and reduce vision loss in wet ARMD patients, such as laser surgery or anti-VEGF medicines that inhibit VEGF activity and cause abnormal vessels. Wet ARMD patients typically develop vision loss through abnormal vessels due to this factor.