Next week, my colleague Dr. Jeff Gerson and I will be presenting a course entitled “AMD: The Past, Present and Future” at the American Academy of Optometry Meeting in Boston. The course will highlight the achievements made in the treatment of AMD over the last 15 -20 years. Topics will include nutritional supplementation for patients with dry disease to slow down the progression of the disease, the use of dark adaptation to diagnose AMD earlier, and the use of home monitoring to detect conversion of dry to wet disease as soon as possible.

As part of this course, we will also be discussing genetic testing, and how testing such as offered by Visible Genomics can be used to take better care of our patients, by using their individual risk for identification of AMD and progression to tailor recall and patient education based on information supplied through genetics. This organizations offers a test to assess the risk level of being diagnosed with AMD (AMDiGuard DNA Risk Test) and one to assess the risk level on the progression of advanced AMD (AMDiGuard DNA Progression Test).

It is a very exciting time to be involved in macular degeneration, as there are many new treatments that will help us take better care of our patients with AMD, with the goal of reserving their vision for as long as possible, so they can lead long, productive lives.  Here is quick snippet of AMD and the impact it has worldwide. It’s in all of our interest to pay attention and help our patients as best we can.

What Is AMD?

AMD is a progressive and degenerative disease affecting the central part of the retina, the macula.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in the United States. Its prevalence is increasing with the growth of our aging population. In the U.S., over 11 million people suffer from AMD (1.75 million individuals have advanced forms of AMD). The worldwide prevalence of AMD is estimated to be at 196 million people and is estimated to increase to 288 million by 2040.

The macula is a structure in your retina that is responsible for central vision (i.e. sharp vision). Your central vision is critical in activities such as driving and reading, which requires sharp vision to see fine details clearly. Vision loss caused by AMD typically starts with a blurred area near the central part of your vision. Over some period of time, the blurred spot may grow larger or you may develop blank spots in your central vision. Also, objects may not appear to be as bright as they once were. Age-related macular degeneration progresses at different rates in people. Some have AMD progress so slowly that vision loss does not occur for a longer period of time. In others, AMD may progress quickly to lead to vision loss in one or both eyes.

While the visual impact associated with early and intermediate stages of AMD can be minimal, some affected individuals progress to advanced disease. These advanced subtypes of geographic atrophy (GA) and neovascular disease (NV) are commonly associated with visual impairment and blindness, affecting quality of life and leading to loss of independence.

Steven Ferrucci, OD, FAAO

Dr. Steven Ferrucci is currently Chief of Optometry at the Sepulveda VA Ambulatory Care Center and Nursing Home. He is also the Residency Director at his sight, and a Professor at the Southern California College of Optometry/Marshall B. Ketchum University.