NeoVista Home Page

What Can I Expect With New Treatment for Macular Degeneration?

What Can I Expect With New Treatment for Macular Degeneration?

Wet AMD

Wet AMD

The majority of people who are diagnosed with the "wet" form of age-related macular degeneration, as well as those who have the less aggressive "dry" form, will lose at least some vision in their lifetime.

Many of the diseases and conditions people suffer with today, such as arthritis, Alzheimer's and cancer, are closely related to aging. In ways that are not yet completely understood, the aging process leads to a break down, or degeneration, of the cellular processes our bodies rely on for healthy functioning.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an age-related disease that affects millions of people in the United States and millions more in other developed countries around the world. Each year in the United States, 200,000 new cases of the most aggressive type of AMD - known as "wet" or "neovascular" - are diagnosed. The majority of people who are diagnosed with this wet form of AMD, as well as those who have the less aggressive "dry" form, will lose at least some vision in their lifetime.

Fortunately, for this type of age degeneration macular related treatment is available. Your eye doctor has several options for treating the main characteristic of wet AMD, which is the growth of blood vessels underneath the retina and into its center, the macula, where they do not belong. These new, vision-threatening vessels can be destroyed with laser treatments. Alternatively, they can be stopped from further growth with degeneration drug macular new therapy aimed at countering vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF is a family of proteins that plays a major role in the formation of the unwanted blood vessels. When your eye doctor uses laser therapies, he or she directs the beam through your pupil to the affected areas in the back of your eye. When your eye doctor uses the anti-VEGF or steroid therapies, he or she injects them into your eye, after numbing it.

Important Things to Understand About Age Degeneration Macular Related Treatment

If you or a family member or friend has wet AMD, it is important to keep in mind the following three points about treatment.

1) No new treatment for macular degeneration is without potential side effects. This is true not just in wet AMD, but for every treatment for every disease. Your doctor will discuss this risk with you.

Also, when injections are used, serious eye infection is possible, but your doctor takes several precautions to prevent it. It is possible to experience other side effects related to the injections, such as eye discomfort or redness. These are typically mild and do not last. It is also possible for some of the injectable treatments to hasten the formation of cataracts or raise the pressure inside your eye. If these side effects become serious enough, your doctor can treat them separately.

2) Treatment for wet macular degeneration is long-term. All of the current treatments for wet AMD typically must be given more than once. For example, one of the laser therapies, called Visudyne, usually needs to be given six or seven times over two to three years. Your eye doctor will want to see you in between treatments as well.

With the degeneration drug macular new therapy, the anti-VEGF approach, you will most likely receive an injection once a month for a few months, and then as needed. As with Visudyne, your eye doctor will also want to see you in between treatments to make sure the unwanted blood vessels did not grow back. Some patients have received periodic injections for two years or more. It is not known for certain whether the benefits of the injections extend beyond that time frame.

3) Treatment does not work the same way for every person. No matter which degeneration drug macular new therapy your eye doctor chooses for you, how it works may be different than for other people. You may require more or fewer treatments than other patients. Or you may have to switch to different treatments to get the best results. Ultimately, your eye doctor may combine more than one type of treatment, which can sometimes improve results and lower the number of times you need to be treated.

When it comes to recommending your treatment plan, your eye doctor has one goal: preserving your vision.

Hope for the future? New clinical trials.

NeoVista, Inc. is a company that is developing an intraocular epiretinal radiation device intended for the treatment of the wet form of age-related macular degeneration. If you, or someone you know, are interested in participating in the CABERNET Trial, please follow the link below:

Learn more about the CABERNET Trial

 

Additional Wet AMD Articles