This handout is for age-related macular degeneration (dry, ga, and wet/neovascular). Your care team identified this based on: distorted straight lines (metamorphopsia) on amsler grid or in daily life in a patient >50 — wet amd until proven otherwise (aao ppp amd 2024).
Other reasons your team may use this plan: sudden central blur, scotoma, or visual loss in an older adult — possible new wet amd or progression of ga (aao ppp amd 2024); drusen, pigment changes, or geographic atrophy noted on routine eye examination >50 years — entry to areds staging and prophylaxis (pmid 23644932); first-degree family history of amd or advanced amd already in the fellow eye — high-risk monitoring and areds2 candidacy (aao ppp amd 2024).
Take these medications exactly as prescribed. Do not stop or change a dose without talking to your provider.
| Medication | Starting dose | How | When | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| areds2_supplementation_no_beta_carotene | — | — | — | AREDS2 — Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 Research Group JAMA 2013 (PMID 23644932): substituting lutein 10 mg + zeaxanthin 2 mg for beta-carotene preserved efficacy and avoided the beta-carotene lung-cancer signal in former smokers (23 vs 11 lung-cancer cases in original AREDS). |
| smoking_cessation_and_mediterranean_diet | — | — | — | AAO PPP AMD 2024 — smoking is the strongest modifiable risk; Mediterranean dietary pattern (leafy greens, oily fish, nuts) associated with lower progression. |
Plan: AMD — pathway-specific ladder (AREDS2 dry / complement-inhibitor GA / anti-VEGF wet)
Contact your care team if any of the following happen:
Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right away if you have:
Lifelong arc. Reassess AREDS stage and fellow-eye risk yearly. Counsel smoking cessation (largest modifiable lever). Co-manage cataract surgery: do not defer in patients with concurrent intermediate AMD — better functional outcome generally outweighs theoretical AMD-progression concern (AREDS data reassuring). Low-vision rehabilitation for irreversible central loss; driving-vision regulations; depression and falls-screen in advanced bilateral disease (AAO PPP AMD 2024).
Guideline: AAO Preferred Practice Pattern AMD 2024 cycle + AREDS2 (Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 Research Group, JAMA 2013, PMID 23644932) + OAKS & DERBY pegcetacoplan (Heier et al, Lancet 2023, PMID 37865470) + GATHER1 & GATHER2 avacincaptad pegol vision-loss analysis (Danzig/Khanani et al, Ophthalmol Retina 2024, PMID 38719191) + TENAYA & LUCERNE faricimab nAMD (Heier et al, Lancet 2022, PMID 35085502)