Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:151-154
May 2007

Macular degeneration — Symptoms and diagnosis

By Kashif Haque, BSc, MRPharmS

Age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of blindness in the Western world. This article describes the causes and symptoms of the condition, the methods used for diagnosis and the treatments available

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SUMMARY

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an ophthalmic condition characterised by progressive destruction and dysfunction of the central retina. It is the leading cause of blindness in the Western world and is the most common disease of the macula — the central part of the retina that is particularly important for detailed vision.

In the UK, 220,000 people who are registered blind or partially sighted have AMD. The Royal National Institute of the Blind estimates that the total number of people with AMD is closer to 400,000, with 40 per cent of these being over 75 years old.

AMD can be split into two broad types, usually referred to as “wet” and “dry.” Dry AMD is the most common form, accounting for 80–90 per cent of all cases. Of the two forms, wet AMD is the more severe and accounts for 90 per cent of the cases of severe visual loss in elderly people. The estimated annual incidence of wet AMD is between 25,000 and 30,000 cases. Once wet AMD has developed in one eye, there is a high risk that it will develop in the other — the cumulative estimated incidence of this is 10 per cent at one year, 28 per cent at three years, and 42 per cent at five years.

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