Therapies help prevent vision damage
Cases of age-related macular degeneration are expected to rise significantly by 2050, but better use of therapies is expected to lower the percentage of cases that result in vision loss and disability.
Scientists at Research Triangle Institute International analyzed existing data and made projections according to a brief article on the New York Times Web site reflecting information provided by the American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF); Archives of Ophthalmology.
Their study, published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, concludes cases will increase from 9.1 million in 2010 to 17.8 million in 2050. They attribute almost all of the increases to aging of the U.S. population.
The disease causes deterioration of the macula, the main area of the retina, a thin tissue at the back of the eye where light-sensitive cells send signals to the brain. Damage to the macula results in blurred or distorted vision and blind spots.
Study authors say existing therapies could cut visual impairment by as much as 35 percent. One cost-effective way to delay the disease, researchers say, is through antioxidant vitamin therapy.
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