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Following recent studies and research by the Macular Disease Society, the NHS is being urged to rethink and re-evaluate their stance and outlook for age related macular degeneration in the UK as the volume of sufferers per year is over double the estimated number of new diagnosis'. It is hoped the NHS recognises this large difference in estimation and give AMD a much higher priority, ensuring that health care specialists understand the significance of the disease and that correct provisions are made for the treatment and diagnosis of the condition in the future.
Age related macular degeneration is a condition which usually, as the name suggests, affects sufferers over time, as they grow older. The disease results in a loss of vision in the centre of the macula, or vision field, due to retinal damage. It is one of the main causes of blindness in humans over the age of 50. The condition does not necessarily effect periphery vision, allowing a sufferer to continue many other aspects of everyday life, but leaves the patient in many cases 'legally blind' and leaving them unable to drive, read and can also cause 'face blindness', an inability to recognise faces. There are two forms of the disease, wet and dry. Dry AMD is caused through a loss of photoreceptors in the centre of the eye, due to atrophy to the retinal pigment epithelial layer below the retina. The wet version of the disease occurs through abnormal blood vessel growth which leads to bleeding and leaks which again, causes damage to the eyes photoreceptors.
This new study suggests that the current expectations by the NHS of 26,000 new cases of AMD per year is way below the anticipated extra 44,000 cases of dry AMD per year. The MDS is keen to stress that the aging population and increased life expectancy of residents in the UK mean that the number of people affected by this age related eye condition will simply explode over the next decade with estimates of over 600,000 sufferers by 2020. Due to such a large increase, the MDS are recommending that the NHS up scale its importance within the system with more and more elderly people making up the population and as a result, treatment numbers and advice systems will naturally heighten as well. With the ability to see this trend before it takes a hold of NHS resources, the MDS hopes prior warning and action will enable the condition to be treated effectively in the future.