Health Care

By Kevin Stith

There is no treatment that can cure or reverse the course of Dry Macular Degeneration. Even the available treatments for the Wet type at present are only meant to slow down the progress of the disease and avoid further loss of vision. The success of the treatment also depends upon the location and the extent of growth of the abnormal blood vessels and damage inflicted to the Macula.

For Wet AMD, a treatment known as Photocoagulation has been found to be effective for sealing leaking or bleeding vessels. In this process, the choroidal neovascularizations (CNVs) or abnormal blood vessels are sealed off and destroyed by a high-energy laser beam which may prevent continued damage to the macula and arrest further vision loss. However, it's important to note that even if laser treatment of this type is successful, CNVs may recur.

Photocoagulation is used only when the CNVs are not located directly under the Fovea. Another treatment called Photodynamic therapy or PDT is used in this circumstance. PDT is designed to halt or slow down the progress of vision loss and relatively painless. In this procedure, a light-sensitizing drug called verteporfin (Visudyne) is injected into the bloodstream, which settles in the CNV. As non-thermal light is directed at the macula, it activates the drug releasing substances that obstruct the growth of CNVs under the macula transforming them into a thin scar.

Another option of treatment that can be used if the CNVs are located directly under the fovea is Macular translocation surgery. In this operation, the retina is detached, and the fovea shifted away from the CNV and relocated over healthy tissue. The CNVs are then removed with forceps or destroyed with hot laser as soon as they are exposed, without any damage to the Fovea.

These are some of the treatments available at present for AMD but there are other numerous medications, clinical trials and experimental treatments being conducted by researchers and doctors.

About the author:
Age Related Macular Degeneration provides detailed information on Age Related Macular Degeneration, Dry Macular Degeneration, Macular Degeneration, Macular Degeneration Medication and more. Age Related Macular Degeneration is affiliated with Colored Contact Lenses.

source:www.ezinefinder.com