There is no cure for AMD; however, treatment can help delay and even reverse vision loss in some patients. Common symptoms of AMD include blurry or distorted central vision, difficulty seeing details clearly and an irregular, dark or empty area in the center of your field of vision.

Age-related macular degeneration is most frequently the result of natural aging; other risk factors include family history, smoking, high blood pressure, lighter eye color and being farsighted.

Drug Injections

Wet AMD (wet macular degeneration), is a form of macular degeneration in which abnormal blood vessels form beneath the retina and leak fluid into the macula, leading to rapid vision loss. Treatment for wet AMD involves anti-angiogenic drug injections that restrict new vessel growth while stopping leakage under retina, to slow down or even stop vision loss caused by wet AMD.

Current standard of care involves monthly or bimonthly injections of an anti-vessel dilator known as Aflibercept (trade name Eylea). This drug works by blocking new abnormal blood vessels that form under the retina in patients suffering from wet macular degeneration, thus slowing vision loss rates while improving vision in many. Unfortunately, patient compliance may be hindered by having to visit their physician’s office or clinic every month for this treatment; missing treatment sessions could potentially worsen vision further.

Sonal Tuli, MD of UF Health has been hard at work developing an alternative to monthly and bimonthly injections. She and her team have created the CentraSight telescope implant which is implanted inside an eye in order to restore central vision. It uses micro-optic technology and magnified images from healthy portions of retina that have not been damaged by disease – designed to help people regain functional independence and enjoy more of daily activities.

As part of the CATT Follow-up Study, the National Eye Institute invited all living CATT participants back to their original clinical trial sites for a comprehensive eye exam and refraction, vision testing by examiners unaware of participant treatment allocation, retinal photographs taken before OCT scanning began and OCT graders in central reading centers assessed OCT scans by blind graders for assessment at 5 years. This examination confirmed that anti-VEGF injections indeed work to slow progression of vision loss from wet AMD. Half of all participants had 20/40 visual acuity or better visual acuity results, providing confirmation that anti-VEGF injections do slow progression of vision loss due to wet AMD.

Laser Surgery

Laser surgery allows your eye care provider to use laser light to destroy fragile and leaky blood vessels that cause wet AMD, slowing further damage to central vision while not restoring what has already been lost; you may still require help from others with daily activities or devices like telescopic lenses for clarity.

Treatment works best if your doctor can locate and address all abnormal blood vessels growing under your retina, especially if the wet AMD is newly diagnosed or worsening quickly. Laser surgery usually takes place in your doctor’s office and typically lasts only briefly; follow-up appointments should be scheduled afterward to make sure the vessels don’t resurface or leak again.

Your doctor may suggest this treatment if you suffer from wet macular degeneration with multiple small fatty deposits called drusen located within your macula. Research has demonstrated that it can slow the progression of this disease while protecting more serious loss of sight.

The macula is a thin layer of cells at the back of your eye that provides sharp central vision. It does this by converting light into electrical signals that your brain interprets as images. Wet AMD occurs when abnormal blood vessels begin forming behind your retina and leak fluid that raises your macula, diminishing or even completely eliminating your eyesight.

If you have wet AMD, your doctor may suggest laser photocoagulation as a treatment option. In this procedure, they target newly emerging blood vessels using lasers and make them recede or disappear by creating scars, thus decreasing risk for further loss of eyesight but it won’t restore what may already have been lost.

An effective treatment option for wet AMD is anti-VEGF therapy, an eye injection containing medication that works by binding a protein responsible for creating abnormal blood vessels. Studies suggest this therapy could improve vision in some individuals suffering from wet AMD.

Photodynamic Therapy

The retina of the back eye consists of light-sensitive tissue that instantly converts images into electrical impulses that travel back to your brain, providing signals to allow you to see fine details, read, drive a car and recognize faces. Over time, however, this ability may diminish leading to macular degeneration – although researchers have yet to find a cure, treatments may help slow its progression and improve vision.

There are two basic forms of macular degeneration: dry and wet. Dry macular degeneration is more prevalent and involves age-related macular thin-out that leads to central vision blurriness, while wet macular degeneration occurs when abnormal blood vessels sprout beneath the retina and leak fluid or blood, raising macula scarring that causes rapid loss of vision.

UF Health experts suggest the best way to avoid vision loss caused by macular degeneration is through regular eye exams. Doctors can detect early changes and recommend treatments that could stop its progress, such as eating diets rich in vitamin C, zinc and antioxidants.

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) may provide an option for wet macular degeneration. PDT employs Verteporfin, a photosensitizing dye, in conjunction with non-thermal laser to seal leaky blood vessels in the eye. The procedure takes 20 minutes in total. As it circulates in your body it gathers around abnormal vessels before activation by non-thermal laser activating it releasing free radicals which destroy these vessels while sparing healthy ones.

PDT has been proven to effectively slow the progression of wet AMD and improve visual outcomes when compared with laser photocoagulation alone. PDT does not damage retina or its surrounding tissues like traditional lasers do and can be used alongside chemotherapy, radiation and surgery therapies for maximum benefit.

Other Treatments

Now available is an innovative treatment option for Wet Macular Degeneration (AMD). In this procedure, an intraocular lens implant – similar to cataract surgery but more minimally invasive – may be placed into one eye as part of an alternative cataract solution that could greatly improve one’s vision. However, FDA has yet to approve this procedure but it remains an exciting new way of combatting AMD.

Macular degeneration is caused by abnormal blood vessels leaking and growing beneath the retina, damaging macular tissue and leading to central vision loss. Wet AMD may progress more quickly as its abnormal blood vessels can rapidly destroy macular tissue causing rapid vision loss in record time; furthermore it may create blind spots within your field of vision that require rapid treatment for best outcomes.

Macular degeneration cannot yet be cured, but taking certain vitamins may slow its progress and lower risk factors for it. Eating more antioxidant-rich food such as zinc can also lower risks. Regular visits to an eye doctor are another vital way of decreasing macular degeneration risk as regular exams allow your doctor to identify signs of disease early and prescribe effective remedies such as high doses of Vitamin C and antioxidants as needed before it worsens further.

Apart from anti-VEGF injections, photodynamic therapy and laser surgery, there are other therapies under development to address limitations of current treatments for AMD. This could include novel compounds targeting different parts of the VEGF cascade; drug delivery systems designed to minimize injection frequency; combination therapies; stem cell and gene therapies as well as stem cell and gene therapy approaches. It’s essential that people over 60 remain aware of the risk for AMD, and should seek professional advice immediately if any changes appear in their vision.