Macular degeneration

Macular degeneration is a condition that damages the macula. The macula is the central part of your retina. It is responsible for central and fine vision.

Macular degeneration affects your central vision but not your side (peripheral) vision. You may have trouble reading, recognizing faces or driving. You might also struggle to see details even up close. 

Macular degeneration rarely causes complete blindness. You can still see with your side vision. 

There are two main types:

• Dry macular degeneration: This is the most common form. Parts of your macula get thinner as you age. Tiny protein deposits, called drusen, build up on the macula and block your vision. Vision loss happens slowly with this type.
• Wet macular degeneration: This type is less common but more serious. It happens when abnormal blood vessels grow in your eye. These blood vessels may leak blood or other fluid that damages your macula. Vision loss happens faster with this form.

Macular degeneration can start slowly. You might not notice it at first. It can affect one eye before the other. Your healthy eye may hide the vision changes.

Regular visits to an eye specialist can catch macular degeneration early. We will ask about your vision.

We will also perform tests, including: 

• Amsler grid test: We use this test to check for vision changes. You focus on a dot at the centre of the grid while covering one eye at a time. You may need more tests if the lines look wavy, distorted or blurry.
• Vision testing: We use eye charts to check if your central vision has changed since your last exam.
• Dilated eye exam: We use eye drops to dilate your pupil. Then, we use a bright light and magnifying tool to examine your eye. A special camera may take pictures of your macula. 
• Fluorescein angiogram: We use this test to look for wet macular degeneration. We inject a yellow dye called fluorescein into a vein in your arm. As the dye travels through the blood vessels of your eye, we take photographs. This helps detect abnormal blood vessels or damage to the retina.

Treatment depends on your type of macular degeneration. While treatment cannot reverse vision loss, it can slow it down. 

Treatments for dry macular degeneration include:

• Vitamin supplements: These can slow the progression.
• Lifestyle: Heart-healthy diets can slow the progression. An example is the Mediterranean diet.
• Vision rehabilitation: This helps you adjust to vision loss. Approaches could include brighter lights, magnifying glasses and larger print on your phone.

Some types of dry macular degeneration do not respond to medication. In this case, the doctor will recommend strategies to cope with vision loss.

Treatments for wet macular degeneration include:

• Eye injections: Medication injected into your eye can help wet macular degeneration. It may also help some types of dry macular degeneration.
• Surgery: Laser surgery can target leaky blood vessels. For severe cases, we may need to perform a larger surgery. 
• Photodynamic therapy (PDT): We inject a light-sensitive medicine into your blood and shine a laser into your eyes. The medicine helps your body form small blood clots to seal leaky blood vessels.  This is typically done in combination with eye injections.

Clinics that treat macular degeneration

A retina specialty clinic for laser treatment and injections is held on Wednesdays at:

The Indigenous Wellness Liaison Team is here to support your health journey. Team members offer cultural support and healthcare advocacy. Learn more below or call them at 604-682-2344,62937 or email IWL@providencehealth.bc.ca

Advances in treatments are all thanks to medical research. While participating in research is a decision you should make for yourself in consultation with your care team, there is much activity in this area so please ask us about our research programs if you’re interested.

By taking part in research, you can help us all learn more about advancing health outcomes and find better ways to help people live and thrive. While you cannot assume benefit to yourself, your participation can make a difference in improving care for future patients.

The following clinical trials are currently enrolling volunteers. Please ask your care team for more information or contact the research team listed on each study or trial. For other information about research at Providence Health Care, please visit Providence Research.