According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 19 million people age 40 and over in the U.S. have age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Treatments include injections to slow the progression of the disease or the use of Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) vitamins, which include vitamins C, E, Zinc and other supplements. Thanks to research, additional treatments have been developed to help protect vision for people with AMD.
Light Therapy
Recently the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the use of photobiomodulation to treat dry AMD. Formal FDA approval for this treatment is still pending. Light therapy was approved in Europe and in some Latin American countries for the treatment of dry AMD.
While formal approval is pending, a clinical trial with 100 people who were in the early stages of this disease had good results. A company called LumiThera, developed a photobiomodulation device called the Valeda Light Delivery System. Over the course of two years, subjects were treated with the device in nine short sessions for three to five weeks. This was repeated every four months during the study period.
Patients who received the treatment were able to see up to five additional letters on an eye chart after 13 months of treatment. Patients who received a fake treatment, could see three more letters. Also, patients who received the treatment were less likely to develop geographic atrophy. While light therapy is safe, there were some patients in this study who developed wet AMD after receiving this treatment. Still, it is important to note that not all of the participants finished the study.
Light therapy may become available in select ophthalmology offices in 2026.
Eye Drops for AMD
Another noninvasive treatment for AMD is from South Korea. Scientists at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology created an eye drop therapy for dry AMD. This treatment focuses on the inflammatory signaling pathway that leads to disease progression. Lead by Dr. Moon-Hyeong Seo, scientists created a peptide library by screening 190,000 candidates. Through this process, they identified peptides capable of targeting Toll-like receptors involved in AMD.
Seo’s lab performed tests on mice with induced dry AMD and found that the treatment protected retinal cells and reduced degeneration. These drops offer a noninvasive option to current injection treatments. They are also more convenient, may improve patient compliance, and offer enhanced safety. Another great thing about the drops is that they could be used to treat other eye diseases.
While both light therapy and eye drops to treat AMD are in the early stages, they show promise in treating a disease where the best available option has traditionally been to slow progression without improving vision. Once again, research provides both hope and pathway to better vision.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/vision-health-data/prevalence-estimates/amd-prevalence.html
https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/syfovre-izervay-geographic-atrophy-amd-macular-deg