Science & Research

I am not certain what your doctor is referring to regarding pupil size and its relation to dry macular degeneration. There is no proven therapy to cure or reverse dry macular degeneration, but the AREDS vitamin formulation has been shown to decrease the risk of progression of high-risk dry age-related macular degeneration to the advanced form of the disease. You should ask your doctor more specifically about your eye pain. Eye pain can result from a variety of causes, including sinus problems, inflammation in or around the eye, surface irritation from the eye itself, or inflammation of the blood vessels around the eye. Your doctor should be able to address possible causes of your eye pain.

Dry eye and dry macular degeneration are not directly related, as they affect separate areas of the eye. The term, dry eyes, refers to the ocular surface, the tear film layer and the cornea. Your tears are composed of three separate layers, an aqueous layer, a mucin layer, and an oil layer. When any of these layers is deficient, the cornea can become dry and cause eye irritation. "Dry" macular degeneration is a pathological process affecting the retina in the posterior part of the eye. "Dry" simply refers to the form of macular degeneration that has not progressed to the "wet" form, in which abnormal, fragile blood vessels begin to bleed.

Personally, I’ve heard that the percentage is quite a bit higher; however, there is no definite number or percentage that can be used to accurately reflect ones chances of developing wet macular degeneration in both eyes. This is because there are so many factors and variables that differ from patient to patient. What is known for sure, however, is that if an individual has macular degeneration, dry or wet, in one eye, there is an increased risk of developing it in the “good” eye.

Below is a link to a 2008 news article about the hydergine research being conducted at Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX. Provided at the end of the article is the contact information for this group. Other than the study referenced by this news report, information regarding the use of hydergine for treatment of dry macular degeneration appears to be limited at present. Since the January 2008 news report, I have found no published update on the progress of this study.

http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=17857

Cone photoreceptors, which are responsible for color vision, are most dense in the macula; therefore, macular degeneration often affects how we see color. Usually, this results in decreased color perception, and not in the type of vivid color change that you describe.

However, it is possible that you might be experiencing a phenomenon known as Charles Bonnet syndrome, in which people with severe visual loss can have complex, highly detailed visual hallucinations. It occurs in people with macular degeneration, advanced cataracts, glaucoma, and other optic neuropathies. The theory is that the brain is attempting to compensate for the loss of visual stimuli by creating these hallucinations.

You are most likely receiving an injection of either Avastin or Lucentis. Both are anti-VEGF agents, which inhibit angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels). Avastin, in much higher dosages, was originally developed as a chemotherapeutic agent, to inhibit blood vessel growth in tumors, and has been used to treat colon cancer. The dosages that are injected in your eye for macular degeneration are much lower than chemotherapeutic dosages, but the mechanism of the medication (to decrease and prevent formation of abnormal blood vessels) is the same.

Most vitamins can be cut, chewed or crushed into liquids or food to aid in swallowing. You can check with your pharmacist to see if there are any particular vitamin formulations that should not be modified before swallowing.

There is no evidence that radiology studies with or without radioactive isotopes can impact the progression of macular degeneration.