What is macular degeneration?
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD) is a medical condition that involves deterioration of the retina and underlying blood vessels. AMD is the leading cause of significant vision loss in people over the age of 50 in the United States.
How does someone get macular degeneration?
The strongest risk factors for AMD are increased age, being of Caucasian descent, having a family history of AMD, and smoking cigarettes.
What are the symptoms of macular degeneration?
Though the early stages of AMD may be associated with no symptoms, over time patients may notice blurred vision, distortion, or a dark spot in the center of their vision.
Are there different types of macular degeneration?
There are two forms of AMD: dry AMD and wet AMD.
Dry AMD is the more common form of macular degeneration, where degenerative changes to the retina are usually gradual with minimal or no symptoms. Some patients with dry AMD may develop a severe atrophy or thinning in the retina called Geographic Atrophy (GA) while other patients can convert to wet AMD. Though there is no way to prevent these complications completely, AREDS2 vitamin supplementation has been shown, in large clinical trials, to decrease the risk of developing GA as well as wet AMD in patients with certain forms of dry AMD.
Wet AMD is the most serious form of macular degeneration, where abnormal blood vessels grow underneath the retina and can leak or bleed, resulting in a sudden drop in vision. In the last few decades, there has been tremendous research around treating wet AMD, and now there are several options for regaining and stabilizing vision. The most common treatment is regular injections of anti-VEGF medication (e.g. Avastin, Lucentis, Eylea) to the back of the eye. Local anesthesia is given before the injections to numb the eye and minimize discomfort.