Therapeutic methods for treating or inhibiting macular degeneration in a
subject in need thereof are described, the methods including applying to
a macula of the subject a macular degeneration effective amount of
electromagnetic energy having a wavelength in the visible to
near-infrared wavelength. In one embodiment, a macular degeneration
effective amount of laser energy is a predetermined power density
(mW/cm.sup.2) of the electromagnetic energy of at least 0.01 mW/cm.sup.2,
which is provided from a laser or other light energy source.
