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Eyes Wet AMD What causes wet AMD
What causes wet AMD
About wet age-related macular degeneration

What causes wet AMD

Wet AMD is thought to be linked to a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). This protein helps blood vessels to grow; however, in wet AMD, VEGF causes abnormal blood vessels to grow in the back of the eye that ultimately damage the macula.1,2

There are numerous risk factors associated with developing wet AMD, such as hypertension and diet, but the main factors include:2,3

Four square boxes with images and captions. The first shows a stick man with a walking stick and the caption “older age”, the second shows a cigarette with the caption “smoking”, the third shows a family tree with the caption “family history of AMD”, and the last shows a map with the caption “northern European ancestry”.

References

  1. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Available at: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/agerelated-macular-degeneration-amd. Last accessed April 2025.
  2. Hobbs SD, Tripathy K, Pierce K. Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; August 11, 2024.
  3. NICE. Macular degeneration - age-related: What are the risk factors? Available at: https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/macular-degeneration-age-related/background-information/risk-factors/. Last accessed April 2025.