Epidemiology Prevalence and Incidence in Dry-Form (Non-Neovascular) Age Related Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a degenerative disorder of the central retina and represents the leading cause of severe visual impairment in the elderly population of industrialised societies. It is known that it currently exists between 30 and 50 million people around the world and is estimated that will have doubled by the end of the coming decade. Several large epidemiologic studies have evaluated the prevalence of nonneovascular or so-called dry AMD. There is some variation in the prevalence of nonneovascular AMD depending on the exact definition of AMD. All of them report a higher prevalence of early AMD and an increasing prevalence with age. It is seen most in Caucasians and least in people with Africans and it is not related to the gender.