Signs of dry AMD typically develop slowly over time and include blurry spots in your vision center. Supplementing with antioxidant vitamins and zinc could slow this form of AMD from progressing further.

Wet form of the disease occurs when abnormal blood vessels form beneath the retina and leak fluid into it, damaging macula and leading to rapid loss of central vision.

Dry AMD

About 80% of those diagnosed with AMD experience the dry form. At this stage, the macula thins out and yellow deposits known as drusen appear underneath the retina – leading to gradual vision loss as time progresses and central vision is gradually lost over time. This condition is known to lead to gradual decreases in central vision as it progresses over time.

Dry AMD can be reduced through taking certain vitamins and minerals found in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) formula, such as antioxidant vitamins C and E, zinc and lutein. You can find these supplements at most health food stores. Furthermore, smoking should be discontinued and sunglasses worn to shield from direct sunlight should also help.

Wet AMD occurs when the vascular cells under the retina begin leaking blood due to improper functioning vascular cells, leading to retinal swelling and eventually leading to severe vision loss in 10-15% of those diagnosed. It affects only 10-15% of those living with AMD.

As opposed to dry AMD, wet AMD cannot be prevented but it can be treated. There are new anti-VEGF therapies which have been proven effective at slowing the progression of wet AMD and improving vision; these injections occur on an as frequent as monthly basis and involve numbing your eye prior to each injection.

Laser surgery may also help treat wet AMD. This procedure involves directing a high-energy beam of light into the eye to destroy leaky blood vessels, thus stopping vision loss. This procedure is relatively quick and can often be performed in an office setting; often in conjunction with optical coherence tomography angiography which produces cross sectional images of retina and macular areas without using dye.

Neovascular AMD

Neovascular AMD, commonly referred to as wet AMD or exudative AMD, occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow beneath the retina and leak fluid into scar tissue beneath it, ultimately leading to central vision loss and eventually legal blindness in some instances. While less common than its dry counterpart, it often advances faster leading to vision loss faster and legal blindness more rapidly. Wet AMD may progress more rapidly causing severe visual loss as quickly and leading to legal blindness faster.

Progress of dry AMD tends to be slow, with any vision changes usually unnoticed by patients. But in 15%-20% of cases, wet (exudative) AMD can quickly progress and lead to rapid loss of central vision or legal blindness if left untreated.

Dry AMD cannot be treated, while wet AMD can be managed using drugs called anti-angiogenic agents that stop abnormal blood vessels from growing and leaking. They must be administered through injection into the eye’s vitreous, specifically.

Researchers can now use color fundus photographs and optical coherence tomography (OCT) to predict when wet AMD will strike, giving them time to begin treatment early and improve visual outcomes. OCT allows researchers to monitor outer retinal layer thickness (ORL), revealing areas likely to develop choroidal neovascularization – visible as fluid-filled spaces under the retina – before it occurs in patients.

Nathan Steinle, MD; Adrienne Scott, MD; Carl Regillo and Prethy Rao are expert retina specialists who discuss the current treatment landscape for wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema (DME). Additionally, they share their perspective on biosimilar therapies’ future in these diseases, and how primary care physicians can facilitate transitioning to these cost-effective therapies.

Laser Surgery

Laser treatment can reduce or eliminate your need for eyeglasses and contact lenses, improve vision and eliminate glare from light sources such as headlights or street lamps. But bear in mind that it may take some time for the eye to heal and settle; you might also experience some temporary discomfort or halos around light sources; these symptoms should resolve themselves over time.

Refractive surgery is a form of laser eye surgery designed to alter the shape of your cornea and lens in order to enhance your vision, and reduce refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. Refractive errors result from light not bending properly when entering your eyes – when this does not happen correctly then images won’t form correctly in your mind causing blurry vision.

To perform this procedure, your surgeon will create a paper thin flap in the cornea using a device known as a microkeratome. When lifting this flap, they’ll use laser treatment to alter its surface so it bends light properly before replacing it back in its place – and your surgery is complete!

Cyclophotocoagulation or ECP laser eye surgery is another form of laser eye surgery used to treat glaucoma. It works by decreasing the amount of fluid produced in your eye by its ciliary body – essential for waste removal and providing nutrients – then drains through its drainage canal – but sometimes builds up and causes high intra ocular pressure. Cyclophotocoagulation or ECP surgery allows patients to reduce or even avoid medication for their condition and is performed on an outpatient basis.

Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an innovative therapy used to treat neovascular AMD (wet macular degeneration). It combines medicine and light to treat leaky blood vessels causing wet AMD. A light-sensitive medicine is injected into your arm before flowing directly to retinal blood vessels where a low-powered laser activates it to close them off; your body absorbs this leaked blood naturally, thus protecting further vision damage.

Researchers at the ITI are exploring whether photodynamic therapy can effectively treat soft-tissue sarcoma, an aggressive cancer that attacks connective tissue. Fatima Toor, professor at Carver College of Medicine and her team are using drugs and lasers to inhibit Hippo pathway, which regulates organ size; doing this may reduce new blood vessel growth while potentially stopping tumors from growing further.

UT Southwestern ophthalmologists are taking part in an ongoing study aimed at slowing the progression of dry AMD. The Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 or AREDS2, revealed that taking antioxidants and zinc significantly lowered risks associated with advanced AMD and its vision loss risks.

Although wet AMD cannot be completely treated, its progression can be stopped with laser surgery or injections into the eye. These injectable medications target its root cause: elevated levels of vascular endothelial growth factor protein which leads to abnormal blood vessel development that bleed and destroy your vision. While these new treatments offer significant progress against macular degeneration, they do not act as cures and will eventually progress once more.

Injections

There is no cure for wet macular degeneration (WMD), but medications may help slow its progression. Drugs such as bevacizumab (Aflibercept), ranibizumab (Lucentis), and pegaptanib (Macugen) work by inhibiting abnormal blood vessel formation related to Wet AMD, which causes fluid accumulation leading to blurry or even blind vision in some people. They may be administered either through eye injections or as pills.

Wet macular degeneration (WMD) is less prevalent than dry AMD, yet can progress much more rapidly and result in serious vision loss. It’s caused by abnormal blood vessels sprouting beneath the retina that lead to macula edema and hemorrhage resulting in macula swelling and hemorrhaging.

Wet macular degeneration’s symptoms include distortion or blurriness of straight lines, dark spots in the center of one’s visual field and difficulty reading or driving at night. Loss of central vision is one of its more serious complications; to track this condition patients undergo regular dilated eye examinations, visual field testing, optical coherence tomography imaging and fluorescein angiography examinations.

Early diagnosis is key in combatting wet macular degeneration (WMD). At UF Health, the AdaptDx is an innovative non-invasive test which detects subclinical changes to macula up to three years prior to symptoms appearing, so we can intervene with treatments or nutritional supplements as soon as they appear – thus decreasing risk of vision loss from WMD.

At its root, wet macular degeneration (WMD) manifests as distortion of straight lines or “waviness” in the center of vision. Over time this leads to gradual decline and eventually even complete loss. If left untreated, WMD can progress to severe vision loss, leaving only small patches of normal vision available for reading, driving cars and using digital devices.