Comments and Conclusions
- AMD is the leading cause of blindness in patients over 60 in the US.1
- One study has shown that patients with large drusen in the posterior pole are five times more likely to develop AMD within the next five years compared to a normal individual.2 If any drusen present are a half- disc diameter or larger in size, patients are ten times more likely to develop AMD within the next five years.2
- Current estimates report that 30 million people worldwide have AMD, and the number is expected to double or triple in the next 20 years.
- Early detection may initiate lifestyle interventions by practitioners including supplementation and rigorous follow-up.
- Timely intervention in wet AMD with anti-VEGF agents often slows, stabilizes or even reverses vision loss.
- The myriad new technologies may aid in the early detection and even prevention of AMD.
- In future Retina Revealed issues, each of these technologies will be explored in much greater detail.