Eye on AMD™ — On your side against MACULAR DEGENERATION

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Signs and Symptoms of AMD - What to look for

With early AMD, you may not notice any change to your vision at all. Dry macular degeneration usually develops slowly over time with slow-progressing symptoms. But wet AMD usually develops quickly, leaving people with vision loss that is noticed suddenly. Signs and symptoms can vary from person to person and depend on the type of AMD you have.

Some advanced dry AMD symptoms may include:

The need for brighter light when doing close work
Difficulty adapting to low light levels
Print appears more and more blurry (ie, newspapers, magazines, books)
Difficulty driving
Colors appear less bright
Difficulty recognizing faces
Overall haziness of vision
A blind spot in the center of your vision
The need to scan a object using your peripheral vision to get a complete picture

Wet AMD symptoms may progress more rapidly and may include:

Visual distortions like:

Straight lines or faces appearing wavy
Doorways seeming to be crooked
Objects appearing smaller or farther away

General decrease in central vision
A central blurry or blind spot

If you are aged 60 years or older, you should have an annual eye exam. And, if you notice any change in your vision, you should see an eye doctor immediately. A good way to monitor your vision is to use a simple tool called an Amsler grid. Keep in mind that it is important to test each eye separately because a good eye can compensate for a bad eye.

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What causes AMD?

The exact cause of AMD is not known. One cause may be that some of the signs of AMD are a part of aging. But there are a number of risk factors that may play a role. These risks include:

Age. AMD is a major cause of severe vision loss in Americans 60 and older.
Family history. If AMD runs in your family, you may have a higher risk.
Gender. Women are more likely to get macular degeneration.
Smoking. Cigarette smoking significantly increases the risk of macular degeneration.
Obesity. Being severely overweight increases the chance that early or intermediate macular degeneration will progress to the more severe form.
Low levels of nutrients. Low levels of minerals such as zinc and vitamins A, C, and E may increase the risk of AMD.
Cardiovascular diseases. High blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, and angina increase the risk of AMD.
Race. Macular degeneration is more common in Whites than any other race.

Next > Diagnosis & Treatment

Who is LUCENTIS for?

LUCENTIS^® (ranibizumab injection) is a prescription medicine for the treatment of patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

What important safety information should I know about LUCENTIS?

Like any prescription medication, LUCENTIS is not for everyone. You should not use LUCENTIS if you have an infection in or around the eye.

Like other injections given into the eye, serious eye infection (endophthalmitis) and detached retina have occurred with LUCENTIS. Increases in eye pressure have been seen within 1 hour of an injection. Your eye doctor should monitor your eye pressure and eye health during the week after the injection. If your eye becomes red, sensitive to light, painful, or has a change in vision, you should seek immediate care from your eye doctor.

Although uncommon, conditions associated with eye- and non–eye-related blood clots (arterial thromboembolic events) may occur.

Serious side effects related to the injection procedure were rare. These included serious eye infection, detached retina, and cataract. Other uncommon serious side effects included inflammation inside the eye and increased eye pressure.

The most common eye-related side effects were red eye, eye pain, small specks in vision, the feeling that something is in your eye, and increased tears. The most common non-eye-related side effects were high blood pressure, nose and throat infection, and headache.

LUCENTIS is for Prescription use only. Individual results with LUCENTIS may vary. Please see LUCENTIS full Prescribing Information. For more information visit www.LUCENTIS.com.