An international team of scientists, including MIPT staff, assessed global vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration in the years 2000-2020. In 2020, 1.85 million people worldwide became blind due to this disease, and 6.23 million people had moderate and severe visual impairment. In the future, the number of people with similar age-related eye diseases and blindness will increase. For this, it is necessary to improve treatment methods and expand rehabilitation services, MIPT told socialbites.ca.
Age-related macular degeneration is an acquired degenerative disease that affects the macula, where most light rays focus.
Risk factors for the development of the disease are thought to be advanced age, genetic background, family history, European origin, and smoking. Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made in the treatment of the disease in the exudative stage, but most cases in the non-exudative stage, the most common form of the disease, are not yet amenable to effective treatment.
According to the study, high-income countries have the highest number of age-related blindness patients (600,000 people). However, from 2000 to 2020, the overall prevalence of blindness due to age-related macular degeneration decreased by 19.3% globally, with large differences between regions. Meanwhile, the overall prevalence of age-related visual impairment increased by 10.1% globally during the same period.
“The results obtained must be interpreted critically. On the one hand, the study shows that the number of blindness cases due to this disease has decreased over the past 20 years, while on the other hand, we see an increase in the number of moderate and severe visual impairments. When interpreting such data, it is necessary to take into account the following: the prevalence of the disease is closely related to the average age of the population, which varies from country to country. Accordingly, the results differ from country to country. Not surprisingly, they are highest in high-income countries. On the other hand, when we compare the figures for complete vision loss, moderate and severe visual impairment, we can say that medical interventions are working. “The next step is to reduce the number of severe outcomes, but this will take time,” Nikita Otstavnov, Deputy Director of the Laboratory for the Digitalization of Healthcare at MIPT, who analyzes public health indicators, told socialbites.ca.
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Source: Gazeta
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