Joe Peloso avoided losing his eyesight while doing his part for science. The Naples retiree is proud that he was among 30 Southwest Florida residents who participated in a local clinical trial through Retina Health Centers. “When I was in the trial, it curbed my macular degeneration,” the 74-year old said. “At the time, it basically stopped it in its tracks.” “This is a monumental step forward,” Dr. Alexander Eaton, director of Retina Health Centers, said of its final approval. “This is the next big advancement, and it will be a couple more years before we see another big step forward,” Eaton said. When Peloso spoke to Eaton about taking part in the clinical trial, he hesitated because of the injection in the eye. In his case, his left eye. “It wasn’t that bad,” Peloso said. “You feel a little bit of pressure.” He later developed macular degeneration in his right eye, so he has had the injections in his right eye. “It was either that or go blind,” he said, which also motivated to him to quit smoking Smoking increases the odds of developing macular degeneration. “I’m 20/20 in my right eye and 20/40 in my left,” Peloso said. “I fish and read. I do a lot of exercise. I run and walk 5 miles a day” (4)., Eylea Injection Treatment is currently one of the effective clinical treatments for macular degeneration. Learn about the safety of Eylea and how it works., People with a condition called wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) often receive eye injections. These shots can help improve vision and also stop the damage that causes vision to get worse..