SYFOVRE for the Treatment of Macular Degeneration

Our eyes are fascinating tools we use to help understand the world around us, with muscles that are faster than any other in the body, and a blinking rate of 12,000 times a day. They contain over two million working parts to function properly.

Macular degeneration is an eye condition that damages your retinas and can affect how well you see, and SYFOVRE™ is a new treatment option that can help to preserve your sight. Let’s examine what this prescription eye injection can do.

If you live in Muncie, Indiana and you’re struggling with the effects of macular degeneration or other damage to the retina, Dr. Jeffrey Rapkin and his experienced medical team at Retina Consultants of Muncie can help.

Understanding macular degeneration

The macula is the part of the retina in your eye that is responsible for how you see things right in front of you—also called your center vision. Age-related macular degeneration is a progressive eye disease that causes your center vision to become blurry, and is the most common form of vision loss for people over 65. Blurry center vision is the most obvious sign, but there are other common signs of this condition, such as low vision, problems seeing colors, inability to see in dim light, blank or dark spots in your vision, and straight lines appearing curvy or wavy. 

There are two main types of this eye disease: wet and dry. While the dry type is more common, the wet type causes problems with your eyes more quickly. Macular degeneration can be caused by a variety of factors other than age, including smoking, family history, diabetes, infections, head injuries, and cardiovascular disease.

How SYFOVRE helps

Also known as pegcetacoplan, this injected medication is meant to treat dry macular degeneration, and is able to slow down the progress of geographical atrophy (GA) lesions that are associated with the disease. These lesions are located in the part of the retina damaged by this illness and without treatment can lead to more damage in the fovea (the center of the retina) where the sharpest vision is most vital.

It works by inhibiting the protein C3, which becomes overactive and can damage retinal cells. The result reduces the progression of the lesions and helps preserve your center vision longer. It is the only FDA-approved medication to treat this aspect of dry macular degeneration.

So if you’re struggling with signs of retinal damage like macular degeneration, we are here to help. Make an appointment with Dr. Rapkin and the Retina Consultants of Muncie today to get the treatment you need.