AMD is a progressive disease — that means symptoms usually get worse over time.
Vision loss usually happens in the last stage of AMD. However, not everyone with AMD progresses through all the stages. Many people with AMD do not lose their vision.
Although there is some variability, the wet macular degeneration timeline can take several months to progress from when symptoms appear to significant degeneration. In some cases, when left untreated, wet AMD can take mere days to advance to late-stage disease.
Not everyone with early macular degeneration will develop advanced macular degeneration, and not all those who develop an advanced form of the disease develop total blindness. However, the loss of central vision can significantly interfere with everyday activities, such as driving or reading.
This retrospective study demonstrated that 11.6% of wet AMD patients treated with as needed anti-VEGF agents achieved long-term remission. Thinner choroidal thickness, presence of RAP, more intraretinal fluid, and less subretinal fluid at baseline were associated with long-term remission.
In one out of three cases, some lost vision can be restored. “If we can treat wet AMD in early stages,” says Khurana, “the outcomes are very good.” Even if wet AMD is not caught early, there are many steps you can take to improve your quality of life.
Although there's no cure for wet macular degeneration, there are treatments to slow the disease and prevent your eyesight from getting worse. If you start treatment early enough, you might be able to regain some of your lost vision. The macula is the part of your retina you need to see clearly straight ahead.
Some people have only mild central vision loss. In others, it can be more severe. Early detection and self-care measures may delay vision loss due to dry macular degeneration.
Many cases of “dry” macular degeneration remain stable for years, and others can progress slowly. Still other cases can develop “wet” macular degeneration where rapid deterioration of central vision often occurs.
The biggest risk factor for both types of AMD is age, with people age 55-64 having a 0.2 percent risk of developing AMD, and those older than 84 having a 13.1 percent risk. Smoking cigarettes increases the risk of developing AMD by a factor of two to four, and the risk persists many years after stopping smoking.
You might see dark spots in the center of your vision, too. But you should still be able to see normally in your side vision (also called peripheral vision). Wet AMD can cause severe vision loss. But neither wet nor dry AMD leads to total blindness since you keep your side vision.
Wet AMD accounts for approximately 10 percent of cases, but results in 90 percent of legal blindness. Wet, or neovascular, AMD is an advanced form of the condition that can cause rapid and severe vision loss.
Can you get AMD in only one eye, or does it always occur in both? It is possible to develop AMD in only one eye. However, as the disease progresses both eyes may become affected. If an individual has macular degeneration in one eye, he or she is more likely to develop it in the other eye than someone who does not.
In the early stages of wet macular degeneration, these vessels may cause the retina to bulge or pucker. This results in distortion or “twisting” of vision. Think of how curved mirrors change the images they reflect. A bent or puckered macula also changes the way light hits the retina.
For now, there's no way to reverse damage from dry macular degeneration. However, there are many clinical trials in progress. If your condition is diagnosed early, you can take steps to help slow its progression, such as taking vitamin supplements, eating healthy and not smoking.
If you have macular degeneration, saturated and trans fats from red meat, whole milk, fried foods, and baked goods can increase your vision damage. Also limit omega-6 fatty acids from sunflower, safflower, and corn oils. Olive and canola oils are healthier cooking choices.
AMD reversal is still an active area of research, albeit with some promising findings. Currently, there's no known cure for the condition. Most treatment and management options available so far help to prevent further damage once AMD has developed. They're still worth trying as they can improve vision in some patients.
Macular degeneration is an eye condition that causes central vision loss. To prevent further vision loss, macular degeneration can be effectively slowed with laser surgery. There is, unfortunately, no cure for this medical condition.
No treatments can reverse macular degeneration, but some can help prevent the condition from worsening.
People with advanced AMD, either from “wet AMD,” in which the retina is invaded by leaky new blood vessels, or “geographic atrophy” in advanced dry AMD, can often see better with special glasses. For reading, these glasses will often have high magnification and a built-in prism to help the two eyes work together.
Practical tips for coping with macular degeneration
Everyone needs more light to see clearly as they age, more so if living with AMD. Choose particularly good lighting for close-up tasks and reading. Aids like magnifiers help with seeing details, and your local low vision services may be able to loan these to you.
The inadequate supply of oxygen indirectly caused due to stress is implicated to be the factor responsible for the worsening of vision. There is also a close link between wet macular degeneration and inflammation both of which could be associated with stress.