AMD Overview
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness worldwide in people over the age of 50. An estimated 12 million Americans suffer from AMD, with 1.2 million seriously impaired.

Two major factors contribute to the devastating effects of AMD currently: patients are often not diagnosed until they begin experiencing significant vision loss and therapies that are available today are directed solely toward the most severe patients.

What is age-related macular degeneration?
AMD destroys the macula, the central part of the light-sensing nerve tissue in the eye known as the retina. The macula provides the sharp, straight-ahead vision that allows you to see small detail, read fine print, recognize faces and see street signs.

What causes AMD?
There are two types of AMD - the dry (atrophic) form and the wet (exudative) form. The dry form of AMD affects about 90 percent of AMD patients and usually begins with the formation of tiny yellow deposits called drusen in the macula. Drusen usually do not cause serious loss of vision, but can cause distortion of vision. However, for reasons that are not yet understood, sometimes drusen will cause the macula to thin and break down, slowly leading to vision loss.

The wet form of age-related macular degeneration occurs in about 10 percent of patients. It is caused by the growth of abnormal blood vessels beneath the macula that can leak fluid and blood. Wet AMD typically causes significant vision loss. Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision problems in the affected eye and can progress very rapidly, causing permanent central vision loss.

The exact cause of AMD is not known. AMD may be hereditary. If someone in your family has or had AMD, you may be at higher risk for developing the disease.

What are the symptoms of AMD?
A primary symptom of AMD is a distortion in vision that makes straight lines appear wavy or irregular. Patients also may notice blurriness and dimming of vision, a dark or blank spot in the center of their vision, or that the size or color of something looks different when viewed through different eyes.

How is AMD diagnosed?
Your ophthalmologist will perform a complete clinical examination to diagnose AMD. He or she may order a fluorescein or indocyanine green angiogram to look for the abnormal blood vessels within or under the retina. During each of these procedures, dye is injected in the arm, and photographs (not X-rays) are taken from a special camera to track the movement of the dye as it reaches the eye and to show any changes in the retina. These photographs will serve as a guide for treatment.