AMD (Macular Degeneration) is an age-related disease that occurs when there is degeneration of the macula (which is the part of the retina responsible for the sharp, central vision needed to read or drive). Because the macula primarily is affected in AMD, central vision loss may occur.

Macular degeneration is diagnosed as either dry (non-neovascular) or wet (neovascular). Neovascular refers to growth of new blood vessels in an area, such as the macula, where they are not supposed to be.

The dry form is more common than the wet. The wet form of the disease usually leads to more serious vision loss.

Dry Macular Degeneration (non-neovascular). Dry AMD is an early stage of the disease and may result from the aging and thinning of macular tissues, depositing of pigment in the macula or a combination of the two processes.

Dry macular degeneration is diagnosed when yellowish spots known as drusen begin to accumulate from deposits or debris from deteriorating tissue mostly around the macula. Gradual central vision loss may occur with dry macular degeneration but is not nearly as severe as wet AMD symptoms.

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Wet Macular Degeneration (neovascular). With wet macular degeneration, new blood vessels grow (neovascularization) beneath the retina and leak blood and fluid. This leakage causes permanent damage to light-sensitive retinal cells, which die off and create blind spots in central vision.

Neovascularization, the underlying process causing wet AMD and abnormal blood vessel growth, is the body's misguided way of attempting to create a new network of blood vessels to supply more nutrients and oxygen to the eye's retina. Instead, the process creates scarring, leading to sometimes severe central vision loss.

Wet macular degeneration falls into two categories:

Occult. New blood vessel growth beneath the retina is not as pronounced, and leakage is less evident in the occult CNV form of wet macular degeneration, which typically produces less severe vision loss.

Classic. When blood vessel growth and scarring have very clear, delineated outlines observed beneath the retina, this type of wet AMD is known as classic choroidal neovascularization (CNV), usually producing more severe vision loss.

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Treatment
Treatments for macular degeneration depend on whether the disease is in its early-stage, dry form or in the more advanced, wet form that can lead to serious vision loss. Although, there are no FDA-approved treatments for dry macular degeneration, nutritional intervention may help prevent its progression to the wet form.

For wet AMD, treatments aimed at stopping abnormal blood vessel growth include drugs of Avastin, Lucentis, Macugen and Visudyne used with Photodynamic Therapy or PDT. Lucentis and Avastin has been shown to improve vision in a significant number of people with macular degeneration.

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