More than 1 million people in the United States have a debilitating eye condition called wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness for people aged 60 and older. Wet AMD is an advanced form of AMD that occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow behind the macula, the part of the eye that provides sharp, central vision needed for activities like reading and driving. These vessels leak fluid and blood and cause scar tissue that destroys the central retina, resulting in a deterioration of sight over a period of months to years.
Traditionally, people living with wet AMD have to get medicine injected into their eye as often as once a month to maintain their vision. The good news: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new treatment that is the first alternative to eye injections in 15 years for wet AMD.
MORE ABOUT DR. NANCY HOLEKAMP
Ophthalmologist Nancy Holekamp, M.D., is Director of Retina Services at the Pepose Vision Institute in St. Louis, MO. She is actively involved in clinical research, having been a principal investigator or sub-investigator in over 38 national clinical trials dealing with age-related macular degeneration, retinal vascular occlusion and diabetic retinopathy. Dr. Holekamp was previously Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Holekamp graduated Summa Cum Laude from Wellesley College and Alpha Omega Alpha at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine. After deciding to specialize in ophthalmology, she completed an internship in internal medicine and a residency in ophthalmology at the Washington University School of Medicine.
