Studies have suggested that eating healthily and taking certain supplements may slow the progression of AMD, though this method will not work against wet AMD.

Signs of wet AMD include blurry or wavy lines caused by leaky blood vessels releasing fluid into your eye, making straight lines appear wavy or blurred. An eye care professional may administer medication that reduces abnormal blood vessels while slowing their leakage rate.

Dry AMD

As part of AMD, people gradually experience gradual central vision loss due to light-sensing cells deteriorating slowly over time in their macula. Though people with dry AMD can still see fine detail, straight lines may appear crooked and colors less vibrant; though usually not leading to complete blindness; nevertheless it can make driving, reading, and other activities that require acute central vision more difficult.

Treatment for dry AMD should focus on delaying its progression into wet AMD, which is more serious and progresses more rapidly than dry AMD. At this stage, abnormal blood vessels form under the retina and leak fluid onto macula tissue which damages it – people suffering from wet AMD can quickly lose central vision.

Wet AMD can be treated using anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF). The medication works by stopping new blood vessels from growing and leaking; injection is given through a thin needle. Some wet AMD patients may benefit from laser surgery to destroy fragile new blood vessels that form, helping prevent further loss of vision.

Scientists are developing treatments that could slow the progression of dry AMD. One approach involves blocking complement system proteins that lead to unchecked oxidative stress that leads to the formation of drusen; another strategy targets dark adaptation deficits associated with it.

Aldeyra Therapeutics recently announced it has submitted an Investigational New Drug application (IND) for a phase ADX-629 1/2 clinical trial of its next-generation investigational RASP modulator ADX-248 for dry age-related macular degeneration with dark adaptation deficit. Aldeyra plans on commencing its study by 2024 and will evaluate if this compound helps reduce accumulation of toxic metabolites that compromise dark adaptation in retinal pigment epithelium cells as well as test its hypothesis that modulating complement system function will accelerate repair of damage caused by oxidative stress.

Neovascular AMD

AMD occurs in two forms, dry (nonexudative) and wet (exudative or neovascular). About 90 percent of all cases of irreversible blindness due to AMD are associated with its wet form (exudative or neovascular). Neovascular AMD forms new abnormal blood vessels in the retinal macula that leak fluid, leading to damage and vision loss; this abnormal formation of vessels is known as Choroidal Neovascularization (CNV).

Fluorescein angiography can help diagnose CNV through color diffusion imaging using sodium Fluorescein injection into an antecubital vein and imaging it by laser light through the retina; its glow produces images showing retinal arterioles and capillaries feeding them that glow greenish-yellow in these images; if CNV is present, then treatment plans can be designed.

Treatment of Neovascular AMD with anti-VEGF medications typically results in improved and maintained visual acuity as well as anatomical restoration in most patients, along with restoration. Unfortunately, however, a significant proportion of individuals developed geographic atrophy (GA), leading to central vision deterioration most pronounced in the eye initially treated – thus prompting CATT (Comparative Assessment of Intravitreal Bevacizumab and Ranibizumab for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration).

The CATT trial sought to assess whether adding cataract surgery to anti-VEGF therapy would lead to improved visual outcomes in eyes with neovascular AMD and GA. Results from this study indicate that adding cataract surgery alongside anti-VEGF therapy significantly improves near and distance visual acuity even among eyes with advanced AMD and extensive macular atrophy, and also shows how baseline visual acuity plays an integral part in predicting post-cataract surgical visual outcomes for each individual patient.

Laser Surgery

Early signs of AMD include tiny deposits known as drusen that form under the retina. While drusen don’t typically cause vision loss, any time their number increases it indicates an increased risk for advanced macular degeneration.

Advanced AMD impacts your macula, the area at the center of your eye that lets you see fine details while looking straight ahead or reading. When advanced AMD affects this part of your vision, its central vision becomes blurry or dark or gray over time; early intervention may slow progression. Therefore, regular visits to your doctor to monitor these changes is recommended so early treatment can slow progression of this disease.

Your ophthalmologist can detect the early symptoms of AMD by conducting a comprehensive eye exam and monitoring peripheral (side) vision. He or she will look out for areas on your retina that appear unusually blurry during this examination, and may need further testing in order to establish its type and severity.

Ophthalmologists use several tests and treatments in addition to regular visits in order to help protect or delay severe vision loss caused by AMD, such as visual field tests, optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans and fluorescein angiography (FAG). Anti-angiogenesis therapy may also reduce the rate of vision loss for some patients.

At laser surgery, ophthalmologists utilize a CO2 laser that emits a pulsed beam of light energy that cuts through tissues without harming nearby structures – unlike using traditional scalpels which cause more bleeding and slower recovery times. With laser technology, doctors are able to make more precise incisions with reduced bleeding rates and faster recoveries times than with scalpels alone.

CO2 lasers can be utilized in numerous medical procedures, from removing warts and superficial tumors to treating precancerous conditions of the skin. Furthermore, they are frequently employed to clear away fluid buildup in eyes, treat glaucoma and perform cataract surgery.

Researchers from LSU Health New Orleans have recently made an important discovery: in people living with AMD, levels of an essential eye fatty acid known as arachidonic acid are significantly decreased and may accelerate retinal degeneration. This finding opens up new therapeutic avenues for treating AMD. Researchers speculate that decreased levels of arachidonic acid reduce protective molecules that protect cells against damage caused by AMD while inhibiting repair efforts to repair damage caused by this condition.

Injections

Injections are one of the most prevalent health care procedures worldwide, with over sixteen billion administered each year in developing and transition countries alone. They can be used both to deliver an immediate dose, and for continuous drug administration through depot injection. Drugs placed into an eye using an injector pass through vitreous fluid and reach retina – injecting this way is used for various eye diseases including ocular hypertension, macular degeneration, and glaucoma treatment.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration, more commonly known as Wet AMD, occurs when abnormal blood vessels form beneath the macula and leak fluid that leads to vision loss. This condition is more serious than its counterpart and requires treatment using multiple approaches including medication and laser therapy; more recent treatments involve inhibiting new blood vessel growth in the eye; Eylea (Aflibercept) is one popular solution that blocks both vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and placental growth factor (PGF), growth factors which stimulate new vessel formation.

Although wet AMD can be stopped from progressing further, its effects cannot be reversed and vision lost cannot be recovered. Therefore, regular eye exams and nutritional supplements that support AMD prevention are of critical importance to maintain eye health and preserve sight.

Our retina specialists at UF Health are at the forefront of diagnosing and treating macular degeneration. Contact us to make an appointment now.

AMD can cause blurry vision, but UF Health experts can slow the loss of vision by identifying early signs of this degenerative condition during your annual exam. Early diagnosis increases effectiveness of treatment. While AMD cannot be cured, new therapies such as VISUDYNE eye injection are proven to significantly slow further vision loss while helping improve vision quality overall. These new therapies include stopping leakage of blood vessels behind your eye that causes wet macular degeneration while simultaneously decreasing risk for advanced AMD in another eye over five years.