But nutritional treatments could reduce related blindness by almost 35%, study suggests.
By Serena Gordon, HealthDay Reporter
Healthday News
Although the rate of age-related macular degeneration is on the increase, newer treatments, using nutritional supplements could help reduce the most serious effects of the disease by about 35 percent, new estimates suggest.
In a study funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers report that as many as 9.1 million people will have age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in 2010, but that 17.8 million people will have the potentially blinding eye disease by 2050.
“What we found is that due to aging, the number of cases of early and advanced AMD will increase dramatically no matter what,” said study author David Rein, a senior research economist from RTI International in Research Triangle Park, N.C. “In 2050, we project there will be 1.57 million cases of blindness [caused by AMD] with no treatment. But, with vigorous treatment, that number’s just about 1 million.”
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