Understanding Macular Degeneration - Treatment

How Do I Know If I Have Macular Degeneration?

Your ophthalmologist will inspect the macula as part of a routine eye exam.  A painless photographic procedure, called fluorescein angiography, shows the pattern of your eye's blood vessels and can detect abnormalities.

How Is Macular Degeneration Treated?

Macular degeneration is not reversible, so people who develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD) typically compensate with large-print publications and magnifying lenses for everyday activities. In addition, some evidence suggests that certain vitamins and antioxidants – vitamins C and E, beta-carotene and zinc – may help reduce the risk of severe vision loss. However, experts don’t agree and more research is needed to determine the true effect of vitamins and antioxidants in macular degeneration treatment.

Treatment for Dry Macular Degeneration

The more common dry macular degeneration cannot be cured, but patients with the condition should continue to remain under an ophthalmologist's care to monitor the affected eye.  Also, if the other eye is healthy, screening still should continue, to stay on the lookout for problems.

Treatment for Wet Macular Degeneration

Wet AMD may be successfully treated with laser procedures and medication.  Successful treatment may not mean restoring normal vision, but rather, preventing central vision loss from becoming worse.  A consideration, however, is that while laser procedures can destroy the abnormal blood vessels, it also could damage some of the neighboring retinal tissue.

Laser photocoagulation destroys leaking blood vessels that have grown under the macula and halts the damage. Laser therapy is helpful to about 10-20% of people with wet macular degeneration. Some vision loss may occur because this treatment creates scar tissue that is perceived as blind spots; however, even more vision would be lost if nothing were done at all. Up to half of the people having laser therapy may need to have future treatments as well.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) uses a different laser to treat abnormal blood vessels. A dye injected into the patient's arm moves to the leaky vessels in the eye. Upon exposure to the laser, the dye seals off the leaky vessels. Since the dye is light sensitive, you must stay out of the sun or bright light for several days until the dye has passed from your system. Visudyne is the only form of photodynamic therapy approved by the FDA.

Laser photocoagulation or PDT must be done before the abnormal blood vessels leak and cause irreversible damage to the retina. More blood vessels could grow later on, so people who get this treatment need to continue to have follow-up appointments.

Medications can also help prevent the growth of leaky blood vessels in your eye. Lucentis and Macugen are both approved by the FDA for treating wet macular degeneration. Both are injected into the eye, either monthly (Lucentis) or every 6 weeks (Macugen). Discuss the benefits and possible risks of each of these medications with your doctor.

How Can I Prevent Macular Degeneration?

AMD cannot be prevented, but it may be controlled with the help of your ophthalmologist.  See your eye doctor if you have any symptoms of AMD and make sure you keep regularly scheduled eye exams.