Patients diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of vision loss in older adults, may feel overwhelmed and anxious as they navigate living with a complex condition that can worsen over time. To help them get the information they need, the National Eye Institute (NEI) created a guide with questions for patients to ask eye specialists.
Answering questions about AMD is a regular occurrence for Jennifer Lopez, MD, an ophthalmologist at the UCHealth Sue-Anschutz Rodgers Eye Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz and Denver Health. Almost every day, she encounters several patients with AMD, an incurable disease that damages the macula, which is a part of the eye’s retina that helps control central vision.
Nearly 20 million people in the United States aged 40 and older were estimated to have AMD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Given the growing population of people aged 65 and older, the prevalence of AMD is expected to rise in the coming decades.
There are different types and stages of AMD, meaning that it can lead to permanent and severe vision loss for some but not for others. Much is still unknown about the disease, which is why it is important for patients to speak with eye specialists like Lopez, a retina specialist, about their specific case and the concerns they have.
“At CU Anschutz, we have state-of-the-art technology for monitoring and managing AMD, and we have access to many different specialties so we can offer centralized care to patients,” says Lopez, an assistant professor of ophthalmology. “We also have an AMD registry, which is essentially years of research and data collection focused on longitudinal care, so we continue to learn a lot.”
Aiming to help inform patients about AMD, below are Lopez’s answers to the NEI’s list of questions.