Number of Individuals and Treatment Costs for AMD to Rise Dramatically by Middle of Century

The number of individuals with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) will jump from two million to 3.4 million by 2032 and 4.4 million by 2050, according to the recent Prevent Blindness report called “Future of Vision: Forecasting the Prevalence and Costs of Vision Problems.” Treatment costs now run $4.9 billion a year, but they will increase to almost $10 billion in 2032 and $14 billion in 2050.The report notes that the current average age of AMD patients is 80. As a greater number individuals live beyond 80, the number of patients with AMD will increase. Whites and women, who are at higher risk for AMD than other groups, will continue to dominate the total affected population with AMD. Read more.

AMD Starts Earlier Than Once Thought

“It is widely accepted that age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of visual impairment and blindness in industrialized countries. However, it is questionable whether it can continue to be defined as a disease in people in their 50s and beyond,” reports Science Daily. “Investigations to determine the incidence of age-related macular degeneration undertaken as part of the Gutenberg Health Study of the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have shown that even persons under the age of 50 years may be affected by an early form of the eye disease. Just under 4 percent of the 35 to 44-year-old subjects in the population-based study were found to be suffering from AMD.” Read more.

In Developing Countries, Blindness Down, AMD Up

“Rates of blindness and impaired eyesight have plummeted over the past 20 years in the developed world,” reports Science Daily. “But macular degeneration has replaced cataract as the leading cause of blindness in rich countries, reveals an analysis of the available.” Read more.

Supplements Lower Cataract & AMD Risk in Men

“Long-term daily multivitamin supplement use may lower cataract risk in men, according to a study of nearly 15,000 male physicians,” reports Science Daily. “Half took a common daily multivitamin, as well as vitamin C, vitamin E and beta carotene supplements. The other half took a placebo. The researchers followed the participants to identify how many participants in each group developed new cases of two common eye diseases: cataract and age-related macular degeneration. Results showed a 9 percent decrease in risk for those that took the supplements.” Read more.

More News about Omega 3s Benefits for Eyes

“Scientists working at the Research Center on Aging at the Health and Social Services Centre - University Institute of Geriatrics of Sherbrooke (CSSS-IUGS) have been studying strategies for protecting retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. Dysfunction of the RPE is found in retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of blindness of elderly people in developed countries.” That’s the report from Medical News Today. “Findings published in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology suggest that incubating retinal cells with vegetable oils induces biochemical and biophysical changes in the cell membrane, which may have a beneficial effect in preventing or slowing the development of retinopathy.” Read more.

Study on Eye Motions Could Help with Vision Loss

“When something gets in the way of our ability to see, we quickly pick up a new way to look according to a new study,” reports Science Daily. “Our eyes are constantly on the move, darting this way and that. Now researchers have found that the precise manner of those eye movements can change within a matter of hours. This discovery might suggest a way to help those with macular degeneration better cope with vision loss.” Read more.

More Headway to Fix Macular Degeneration

“In a study published on line this week in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, Drs. Donita Garland, Rosario Fernandez-Godino, and Eric Pierce of the Ocular Genomics Institute at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School along with their colleagues, reported the unexpected finding that in mice genetically engineered to have an inherited form of macular degeneration, turning off the animals' complement system, a part of the immune system, prevented the disease.” That’s the start of a Science Daily post. Read more.

Virginia MDs Implant Telescope for Macular Degeneration

“Physicians at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center have become the first in Virginia to successfully implant a telescope in a patient's eye to treat macular degeneration,” according to Science Digest. “The telescope implant is designed to correct end-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most advanced form of AMD and the leading cause of blindness in older Americans. Patients with end-stage AMD have a central blind spot. This vision loss makes it difficult or impossible to see faces, to read and to perform everyday activities such as watching television, preparing meals and self-care.” Read more.

AMD Remains Leading Cause of Visual Impairment for Elderly

“Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) continues to be the leading cause of visual impairment in the United States for people over age 65, according to a study recently published online in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology,” according to Science Daily. “AMD is a potentially blinding disease that affects more than 9.1 million Americans. This study, which tracked vision loss in relation to eye disease and treatment response in nearly 5,000 patients over a 20-year period, showed that despite the recent discovery of sight-saving drugs and advances in disease prevention, AMD still causes severe vision loss in approximately 15 percent of Americans 85 and older.” Read more.”

Steroids Delivered by Nanoparticles Preserve Vision

Nanoparticles

"Hitching a ride into the retina on nanoparticles called dendrimers offers a new way to treat age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa,"
 reports Medical News Today. "A collaborative research study among investigators at Wayne State University, the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Medicine shows that steroids attached to the dendrimers targeted the damage-causing cells associated with neuroinflammation, leaving the rest of the eye unaffected and preserving vision."Read more.