Know Your Treatment Options for AMD

Treatment

Dry AMD

For this condition, the main goal is early detection and preventing dry AMD from turning into wet AMD. The dry category does not cause damage to our vision but it’s a warning that the retina is at high risk for developing unstable blood vessels which can cause wet macular degeneration.

If you have dry AMD, your eye doctor will recommend a supplement in order to prevent future damage from wet macular degeneration. As a result of a series of studies called Age Related Eye Disease Studies (AREDS2), a combination of vitamins has been developed that can help prevent the progression of AMD. The supplement contains vitamins C and E, lutein, zeaxanthin, zinc and copper.

In addition, your eye doctor will recommend that you do a quick and easy at home screening test to make sure that your condition is not turning into wet AMD. All it takes is a small black and white card that you can use called the Amsler grid. This is an extremely helpful tool that is used to assess any changes in your vision which could be a sign for wet macular degeneration. Every day you spend just a few seconds looking at this grid with one eye open and the other closed so that you can detect if there are any changes in each eye over time. If any of the straight lines on the Amsler grid begin to appear distorted or wavy or if part of the lines on the grid disappear then you know to consult your eye doctor who can check if there are any changes in your retina that could lead to wet AMD.

Wet AMD

In wet AMD, the damage is caused by abnormal new blood vessels that form in the retina. The source of these blood cells are proteins called VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and therefore in order to treat this condition, effective injections are used called anti-VEGF which directly block the source of the issue. This treatment can stop vision loss and can even reverse the damage caused by AMD.

The eye is first numbed to ensure that no pain will be felt when the injections are administered. Currently the anti-VEGF drugs are given every 4-6 weeks, however there is a tremendous amount of research taking place to improve this. There is hope that developments are being made to avoid frequent injections. Furthermore, there is research taking place to find a cure that can essentially get rid of macular degeneration.