Wet AMD is called wet because of its new and leaky blood vessels that grow in the choroid layer of the retina. The goal of most wet macular degeneration treatments is to stop any further bleeding in the macular. This is so important because when these immature blood vessels leak, they permanently damage the photoreceptor cells.

Can wet macular degeneration be reversed with any of these treatments? Not usually. Again the goal is to stop or slow the progression of this disease.

Here are the treatment options for wet AMD.

CONVENTIONAL THERAPY

1. Visudyne or Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)

PDT uses a laser after a person has been injected with a light-sensitive medicine called verteporfin (Visudyne). It works by destroying abnormal blood vessels in the retina and may help slow the progression of wet macular degeneration.

2. Anti-VEGF Treatments

Anti-VEGF drugs block VEGF – vascular endothelial growth factor. This factor promotes the development of the leaky, immature blood vessels.

So the anti-VEGF inhibits the growth of new blood vessels. You may also see these medications called anti-angiogenic. They are given by injections directly into the eye.

Macugen, Lucentis and Avastin are the three anti-VEGF therapies available at this time.

3. Macular Degeneration Surgery

Macular degeneration surgery does not cure macular degeneration nor does it necessarily restore lost vision. The main purpose is to prevent further loss of your straight ahead or central vision. Macular degeneration surgery can sometimes be a decision you will have to make very quickly – depending on your situation. Photocoagulation laser surgery or macular translocation surgery are the two types of surgery.

ALTERNATIVE THERAPY

1. Acupuncture for Macular Degeneration

Acupuncture is a method of using fine needles to stimulate invisible lines of energy or Qi (pronounced “chee”) running beneath the surface of the skin. The acupuncturist inserts needles into particular points on the energy channels to correct the flow of Qi and so affect change in a part or function of the body.

2. Microcurrent Stimulation

Microcurrent stimulation delivers low-intensity electricity to the eye area with the idea that it will improve circulation to the retina providing it with vital nutrients and assisting in the removal of harmful waste products.

MACULAR DEGENERATION CLINICAL TRIALS

All the studies for wet AMD can be found in one place – at the National Institute of Health’s website (www.clinicaltrials.gov). There are several exciting studies going on like combining Lucentis injections with radiation or comparing the effectiveness of Lucentis to Avastin.

To find out more about these wet macular degeneration treatment options go to , http://WebRN-MacularDegenration.com/wet-macular-degeneration-treatment.html.

Symptoms of macular degeneration included blurry vision, scotomas (blind spots) and distortion. They are created by disruption, or degeneration of the macula. Macular degeneration usually affects patients over the age of 55, both eyes and leads to progressive loss of vision.

Patients with known macular degeneration usually self-monitor with the aid of an Amsler grid. This is basically a piece of graph paper. By checking each eye daily, any blind spots or distortion can be monitored. Persistent changes should be reported to the eye doctor.

Patients without the prior diagnosis should have period eye exams. The exam must include dilation of the pupils to allow proper exam of the retina. The macula is the functional center of the retina and can only be examined with dilation.

There are characteristic findings that cause your doctor to be suspicious of ARMD. Common signs include drusen, scarring, fluid and sometimes blood. These characteristic findings usually are associated with decreased vision, the severity of which depends on whether or not you have wet or dry form.

A retina specialist (a specialized ophthalmologist) is best suited to make the diagnosis. Several tests can be performed including a fluorescein angiogram and possibly an OCT (optical coherence tomography). These tests will aid your physician in making the diagnosis. These tests will also differentiate between the wet and dry form of ARMD.

Presently there is no treatment for dry macular degeneration. There are treatments available for the wet form of the disease.

While there are other retinal problems that can give similar symptoms, in any case it is extremely important that you report any persistent changes in your vision to your eye doctor. The early treatment is instituted, the better the prognosis.

Of all the ailments which affect the elderly, macular degeneration, a disorder of the eye is perhaps one of the most common. Chances are that though we hear about this term, many of us may not have much information about it. However to understand what this disorder is, you have to familiarized yourself with the inner parts of the eye.

The retina, located at the center of the inner lining of the eye, has a particular area called the macula. When a person is suffering from macular degeneration, the macula area may get thinner, become dysfunctional or sometimes may also bleed. It is important to note that it is the macula area of the eye which allows us to see the finer details. So if this condition is neglected, it may lead to loss of vision. In this condition the patient gradually loses the ability to read as well as recognize faces.

This condition is also known by another name: AMD or AMRD – age related macular degeneration. This condition is so rampant that according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, this is a leading cause of blindness in America, affecting mainly people who are over 50 years of age. The Archives of Ophthalmology had estimated in 2004 that there were nearly 1.75 million people who showed symptoms of this condition and this number would rise to nearly 3 million by 2020.

Though the disease is not necessarily painful, the cells in the macula area are destroyed by the onset of the disease. The progress of the condition is so slow that many people do not even realize that they are suffering from this type of eye disorder or that they are not being able to see properly, till the disease has progressed considerably. It is also true that for many elderly people the condition deteriorates very fast and they become completely blind.

There can be two types of macular degeneration – dry and wet, the former being more common than the latter. In fact, close to 85 to 90% people diagnosed with this condition would invariably be suffering from the dry form of the disease. While the appearance of yellowish spots in the retina is the first signs of the dry form, in the wet form, new blood vessels develop in the macula area, causing vision loss.

The other early symptoms of this condition include: blurred or distorted vision and vision obstruction caused by shadowy areas. A qualified eye doctor usually diagnoses this disorder even before its onset simply by examining the retinal condition. Usually the doctor recommends an angiography of the eye if a distorted or blurring of vision is detected.

Interestingly, this condition is more common in whites and in women than men. Who are at risk? Usually it has been attributed to a gene variant called the complement factor H (CFH) and this factor is normally associated to more than half of the blindness that affects old people, suffering from macular degeneration.

Several of the genes associated with AMD have been identified and as a result we may see genetic screening tests sometime in the future.

Consider these numbers:

-Approximately one fourth of all late-stage macular degeneration appears to be related to genetics.
-The lifetime risk of developing late-stage AMD is 50% for people who have a relative with AMD vs 12% for people who’s relatives do not have AMD (4x the risk).

If you have first-degree relatives with late-stage AMD you will develop it at an increased rate at a younger age. (Arch Ophthalmol.1998;116:1646-51) AMD is a silent and painless loss of central vision due to the degeneration or dying of cells in the retina, called the macula.

First, it is important to realize that what is lost is the central portion of your sight – what you see right in front of you like the face of a person or the words in a book. Peripheral or side vision is still there. It is NOT blindness, but rather low vision. As the leading cause of vision loss in the aging population in the U. S. this central loss of vision makes it difficult to read, drive, perform daily tasks and to recognize faces. Treatment is very limited and is aimed at preventing further vision loss, but does not restore lost vision.

If you find these statistics a bit alarming, consider taking preventative measures to reduce your chances of developing this retinal disease. It is much easier to prevent AMD than it is to treat it. If you’d like to know more about macular degeneration prevention go to http://webrn-maculardegeneration.com/macular-degeneration-prevention.html

If you are over age 50 and are experiencing vision problems, you may very well have Dry Macular Degeneration, which is the most common type of macular degeneration (AMRD). There are several types of dry macular degeneration including atrophic ARMD, drusen, soft drusen, diagram drusen, geographic, fovemacular dystrophy, Choroidal Sclerosis, and mixed/retinal pigment epithelial hypertrophy.

Atrophic dry macular degeneration occurs when the retina becomes thin, causing central vision to become blurry and hazy. This thinning is a gradual process and only affects the macular area of the eye. An individual with Atrophic dry macular degeneration continues to have good side (peripheral) vision. Over a period of years however, dry ARMD may cause additional damage to the central retina. If damage is rapid, the patient may be developing wet macular degeneration.

Drusen, soft drusen and diagram drusen occur when accumulations of material build up in the retina. Chemicals to the retina are then inhibited by this build up. These accumulations resemble small white spots on the retina.

Geographic macular degeneration occurs when several areas form in various parts of the retina. As these areas increase in size, more damage is done to the retina. Smoking increases the risk of developing this macular disease.

Fovemacular Dystrophy occurs when there is very small damage done to the central area of the retina. This condition is associated with grayish-yellow round or oval shaped lesions in the macular area of the eye. This disease is most common in individuals between the ages of 30 and 50 and is often genetic in nature.

Choroidal Sclerosis is a result of a large white-looking thinned area in the retina. Most often both eyes are affected and no treatment has yet been discovered for this condition. An examination of the eye shows thick choroidal blood vessels underneath the thinned area.

Mixed/retinal pigment epithelial hypertrophy results when there are several conditions happening in the macular area. These conditions include thinning or thickening of the retina, drusen and pigmentation.

As you age, you are apt to experience some type of changes in the retina of your eye and develop some form of dry macular degeneration. Nutrients enter the retina slowly and waste products are extracted less easily from the retina. You are likely to develop a thinning retina and your sight will probably be reduced. Deposits of waste products are likely to develop and you may experience pigmentation changes to the retina. Being watchful for any changes in your vision is important at any age and should be reported to your health care provider as soon as you notice them.

A number of studies have shown that eating fish regularly or taking Omega 3 fish oil capsules can help slow down the progress of macular degeneration and offers preventative benefits against developing it in the first place.

So what is Macular Degeneration?

Age related macular degeneration is the leading cause of loss of vision in people over the age of 65. The macula is a small area in the centre of the retina and if the macular cells become damaged then this affects our central vision and our ability to see right in front of us.

No one knows the cause of macular degeneration although age, poor diet, genetic tendency, excessive sunlight and smoking are all believed to increase the risk. When macular degeneration occurs as a result of advancing years, it is known as age related macular degeneration or AMD.

AMD is not a painful condition and it doesn’t usually lead to total loss of sight as the peripheral vision is not affected, nevertheless it can be distressing for sufferers who find that their ability to read, write, drive and perform other close visual tasks is inhibited. Early symptoms of age related macular degeneration is usually blurred or distorted vision and perhaps sensitivity to light.

How can Omega 3 help?

Fish, particularly fatty fish such as sardines, herring and salmon, contain essential nutrients that we need to survive and that we just can’t find anywhere else. These are the Omega 3 fatty acids known as Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) both of which are essential for healthy brain and eye function as well as for many other processes going on in the body throughout our entire lives.

If we don’t get enough of these fatty acids, and indeed most of us don’t as our consumption of fish has dramatically declined in recent years, then inevitably there is a greater risk of health problems associated with a lack of Omega 3 in the diet. We know that Omega 3 is essential for healthy vision so it would be a natural assumption that eating more fish would help protect vision and this is exactly what researchers have found.

A study published in the journal of Opthalmologica in 2005 concluded that Omega 3 supplementation along with acetyl-L-carnitine and COQ10 could slow down the progress and improve visual function in people with age related macular degeneration. This was a randomised double blind placebo controlled trial involving 106 individuals with early AMD. Only 2 percent of those taking fish oil experienced a worsening of the condition compared to 17 percent in the placebo group.

An Australian study known as the Blue Mountains Study published in 2006 involved over 3,600 people aged 49 and over. After a time span of 5 years, the participants still involved were checked for signs of macular degeneration and their dietary habits were analysed. The results showed that there was a reduction in incidence of ARM (age related maculopathy) associated with eating fish at least once a week, they concluded that a diet rich in Omega 3 could protect against ARM.

There are others that have come up with similar results; however, it isn’t advisable these days to overdo it on the fish consumption in order to get enough Omega 3 in the diet as there are toxins such as mercury and dioxins in fish which could affect health in other ways.

However, a daily dose of fish oil and that is fish oil that is pure and free from toxins is safe to take and may lower your risk of developing AMD, might improve visual function in people with early AMD and could possibly slow down or even halt the progress of AMD.

Macular degeneration is a terrifying disease that is the leading cause of blindness in people who are 40 years old or older though most people have never even heard about it. What happens is a tiny fuzzy dot begins to appear in the center of your vision. That tiny dot begins to grow as time goes on getting larger and larger until the fuzzy dot covers your entire eye sight range and all you see is blurryness. I think now you realize why I described it as a terrifying disease or condition!

In this article today I would like to discuss several things you can do to help protect yourself from macular degeneration and how to prevent it from beginning in the first place. While there are some treatments available once it has begun, they are generally very invasive and scary for most people making prevention the far better alternative.

Macular degeneration seems to manifest itself in people whose diets are low in lutein and also zeaxanthin. So the obvious thing is to increase the amount of foods that you eat that contain these things. Luckily that’s not all that hard to do.

Those two things are what we refer to as carotenoids. Sorry about the big weird words but sometimes you just have to use them! Foods that are rich in carotenoids include grits, corn bread, eggs, orange juice, broccoli, and spinach. Along with these foods you can also find them in orange peppers, squash, kiwi fruit, red grapes, and also in pumpkins if you can believe it.

Several of these foods also are known to have fairly strong cancer prevention properties as well making them twice as good for you when it comes to disease prevention overall. I’m not saying that you have to eat all of these foods every day, but the more of them that you can incorporate into your daily diet the better off you will be in the long run.

Adding these foods to your diet may help prevent macular degeneration but really we shouldn’t just focus on one single illness and instead should focus on eating a well rounded nutritious diet which will help to prevent you from getting a broad range of different diseases and health conditions.

Getting regular exercise can also be a very good way to lead a healthy lifestyle that will snowball and help you to prevent yourself from getting many different diseases and conditions.

So there you have several simple foods you can eat that will help prevent macular degeneration before it even gets started. Just because you are over 40 years old does not mean you should lose your eyesight because it is one of the most precious things we have.

There is a new way to treat macular degeneration that is being used extensively today all over the world. Microcurrent macular degeneration techniques are proving to be quite effective in the treatment of this age-related disease. The process works quite simply: cutaneous electrodes are used to stimulate the nerve fibers of the eye. This process has proven to be very effective in treating older patients. It also helps relive the pain often associated with the disease.

Using microcurrent technology to treat age-related macular degeneration has helped improve the vision of many older people. Aging causes arteriosclerotic degeneration as people age. The macula during the aging process requires oxygen and nutritional elements to thrive. Arteriosclerosis limits the flow of these elements to the eye and causes degeneration of the macula.

Stimulating the retina and the compromised macula is what microcurrent treatment is all about. A very weak electrical current is used to improve vision. Using low voltage (as compared to the higher voltage TENS treatment) allows the natural healing process of the body to work effectively. This kind of stimulation works to trigger the body to start the healing process.

Microcurrent treatment works simply. A device powered by a battery is used to produce low-intensity electrical charges at specified areas around the eye. This, in turn, increases the blood flow to that area of the eye. The result is that the eye is healthier because it receives the oxygen and nutrients it needs. Electrical stimulation also helps to remove certain waste products from the area. The procedure itself is non-invasive and has proven to be safe when performed by a qualified professional. There is no pain involved with the procedure and side effects are almost non-existent.

Microcurrent macular degeneration techniques usually eliminate the need for additional complicated treatment options. It is an excellent alternative to more invasive procedures and often works better than conventional methods. Studies have found that microcurrent technology has substantially improved the eye sight of many patients and has drastically improved the quality of their lives.

There is a myth about macular degeneration that there is no type of treatment. But the real fact is you do have choices of treatment for macular degeneration. And the good news is you may help your vision with two simple steps to stabilize your vision. Be sure to combine those two techniques and you may find that your eyesight will improve progressively.

With macular degeneration there are actually two different types that people may suffer from. The first type is wet macular, which is actually caused by the growth of new blood vessels that are abnormal and will lead to severe loss of vision. And the most common is dry macular degeneration which is generally related with aging, excessive weight, poor diet, hypertension, drug effects, unprotected sun exposure, bad habit such as smoking and life style. Both types can be avoided or improved with the two below steps.

Step 1: Treatment for macular degeneration with better nutrient

Certain vitamins and nutrients such as zinc, lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamins A, C and E will actually help with your vision. Adding in a serving of these different choices each day may help with slowing down the macular degeneration you are experiencing. Look into omega-3 fish oil, and also CoQ10 that has l-Carnitine in it.

Drink a daily juice that you make from organic fruits and vegetables. These are the following ingredients: collard greens, leeks, ginger, beets, cabbage, garlic, carrots, parsley, apples, celery, kale, grapes, spinach, lemon, raspberries, wheat grass and chlorophyll.

Cut down on the amount of caffeine that you drink every day. Stop eating foods that have been deep fried. Also you will want to limit the amount of alcohol that you drink each day.

Step 2: Treatment for macular degeneration with eye exercises

Choose special eye exercises that are created to strengthen the eye muscles, they also help stimulating the vision center of the brain. The basic eye exercises you must follow are those that train the eye muscles ability to focus objects at different distances. For example you can do by covering your left eye with one hand then change your right eye view from a near distance object to another long distance object. Keep moving the view several time and allow 2-3 seconds rest between view changing, do it slowly and don’t forget to breathe in and out deeply while you rest. Continue the exercise with the left eye with the same manner.