Download the video transcript - Foundation Fighting Blindness

Video Title: “Treatment and Therapy for AMD”
Stephen Rose, Ph.D.
Chief Research Officer, Foundation Fighting Blindness
Hi. I’m Dr. Steve Rose from the Foundation Fighting Blindness and I am here to talk about agerelated macular degeneration, or AMD. Now, I’ll talk about the various treatments that are
available for age-related macular degeneration. Unfortunately, there is no cure for macular
degeneration at this time. But thanks to investments in research more and better treatments for
AMD are emerging every day.
Before I get into specific options that are available, I want to emphasize that the treatments I’m
discussing on this video are FDA-approved specifically for age-related macular degeneration.
You may come across other proposed treatments in your search for answers on this disease.
While some of these treatment options may sound promising, it’s extremely important that you
discuss them with your doctor before undergoing any form of treatment for AMD. Something
that seems harmless enough to you, like a nutritional vitamin or supplement, can have harmful
side effects on your vision or other parts of your body or they can negatively interact with other
medicines that you are taking. For this reason, it’s crucial that you discuss all treatments or
therapies with a doctor who knows your medical history.
Most current AMD treatments are geared toward slowing the progression of vision loss from the
disease and minimizing the risk of developing more advanced forms of disease.
The first treatment I’ll discuss is an antioxidant formulation called AREDS that has proven to
slow the progression of AMD. The study for which it was named was conducted by the National
Eye Institute. The AREDS formulation is an over-the-counter antioxidant supplement
recommended for people who are at risk of developing more advanced forms of either dry or
wet AMD. It includes the antioxidants beta carotene, vitamin E, and vitamin C, as well as the
nutrients zinc and copper. The AREDS formulation contains specific amounts and forms of
these antioxidants and nutrients, so do not try to substitute multivitamins or dietary nutrients for
the AREDS formulation.
High doses of beta carotene have been associated with an increased risk of cancer in smokers.
Also, keep in mind that too much of any vitamin or mineral may affect the body's ability to
absorb other important nutrients, so follow your doctor's advice about dosage.
In addition to AREDS, there are pharmaceuticals available to reduce the vision loss from wet
AMD. Vision loss from wet AMD is caused by abnormal leaky blood vessel growth under the
retina. These drugs work by restricting the growth of these blood vessels. These drugs have
proven to stabilize vision in most patients and even improve visual acuity for about one-third of
patients. Currently, these drugs are administered through monthly injections in the eye. While
this sounds painful, most patients say that they feel very little, or even nothing at all, when they
receive their injections. And because these drugs have been so successful in treating wet AMD,
researchers continue to work on different ways to administer the drug, including eye drops, and
even through a small device that is implanted in the eye to provide sustained delivery of the
drug.
A third treatment option for wet AMD, called photodynamic therapy, uses a light-activated drug
to keep the disease from advancing into a more advanced stage. In this procedure, the doctor
injects the drug into the patient’s arm, and then activates the drug as it passes through the
retinal blood vessels by shining a low-energy laser beam into the eye. The resulting chemical
reaction actually destroys abnormal blood vessels. Photodynamic therapy is virtually painless.
Some doctors also incorporate photodynamic therapy with the drug treatment regimen for
optimal effect.
I’ve just outlined for you several FDA-approved treatment options for macular degeneration. As
you may have noticed, there are more treatments currently available for the wet form of the
disease than for the dry form. And while these treatments can be very effective in minimizing
vision loss to AMD, they are not cures.
If you’d like to learn more, visit FightBlindness.org, and check our other videos on AMD,
including advancements in research.