Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD or AMD)

One of the leading causes of vision loss in people over age 60, AMD can be devastating to your vision if not treated and monitored properly. For those living with AMD, daily living can be much more difficult. Thankfully, there are new treatment options and prevention strategies.

Overview

Your retina is the sensor that gives you vision. Within that sensor, there's a specific part called the "macula" that is responsible for your central vision (i.e. when you look at something). When the macula stops working the way it should, or degenerates, your central vision gets distorted, blurry, and sometimes disappears permanently. This is called AMD, and comes in 4 main stages.

Who's at Risk?

Risk factors include age, a family history of AMD, smoking, poor cardiovascular health, and having lighter skin/lighter eyes. Stages 1-3 are classified as Dry AMD, which around 80% of AMD patients have, and is where you slowly lose central vision. Stage 4 is classified as Wet AMD and can result in severe vision loss and blindness.

Detection

In Stage 1 and sometimes Stage 2, vision is usually unaffected, so the patient won't have any symptoms. That's why it's crucial for us to catch it for you. Every year when we take your Optomap retinal images, we're screening you for AMD. If we suspect it's starting, we recommend an OCT and visual field to be done every 6 months to monitor progression.

Treatment Options

Treatment is centered around prevention, building habits to hopefully stave-off or at least slow down the disease. If treatment itself is required, it is usually in the form of medicated eye injections, which help reduce the harmful effects of AMD.

Prevention

Prevention includes no smoking, a healthy diet rich in Vitamin A and exercise, UV protection via polarized sunglasses whenever outdoors, and vitamin supplements. AREDS2 is recommended for those who are diagnosed with AMD, but NOT recommended for those who just have a family history or other risk factors. For those patients, MacuHealth is the preferred supplement.