| By 2020, as many as 7.5 million people over 65 | | | | vision and seniors organizations. Its cause is |
| years of age may suffer from vision loss due to | | | | unknown but it appears to be linked to smoking, |
| age-related macular degeneration (AMD). | | | | light skin or eye color, hypertension, coronary |
| This grim scenario comes from Drs. Gisele | | | | artery disease, sun exposure, and a diet low in |
| Soubrane of the Clinique Ophthalmologique | | | | vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. |
| Universitaire de Creteil in France, and Neil M. | | | | In AMD, the macula - a light-sensitive tissue at the |
| Bressler of the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute, | | | | center of the retina that provides clear central |
| Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the | | | | vision - is affected. As the disease worsens, |
| United States in their report published in the British | | | | central vision is lost causing blindness. |
| Journal of Ophthalmology. | | | | Most people (90 percent) with AMD have the dry |
| "AMD occurs most frequently in people above 50 | | | | form of the disease that causes slow vision loss. |
| years of age, with a strong increase in prevalence | | | | The rest (10 percent) have the less common wet |
| in people over 65 years of age. This rapid | | | | form that is characterized by the growth of |
| increase in AMD prevalence with age will probably | | | | abnormal blood vessels in the back of the eye |
| pose a growing health problem for developed | | | | that block vision. This causes severe vision loss in |
| countries because of the increasing proportion of | | | | only 2 to 3 years. |
| the population in older age groups. Data from the | | | | Fortunately, there is hope for people suffering |
| United Kingdom have shown that the number of | | | | from the wet form of AMD in the form of a |
| new registrations of blindness due to AMD has | | | | light-activated drug that is injected into the |
| increased by 30 - 40 percent in the past 50 | | | | patient's bloodstream. Once it reaches the retina, |
| years," they warned. | | | | the drug is activated by photodynamic (PDT) or |
| At present, AMD affects 30 million people | | | | laser therapy. This produces a clot that closes the |
| worldwide and is the leading cause of blindness in | | | | abnormal blood vessels without damaging other |
| people over 50, according to the AMD Alliance | | | | parts of the eye. |
| International, a non-profit alliance of international | | | | |