Macular Degeneration Facts & Figures

• Age-related macular degeneration is an irreversible destruction of the macula, the part of the retina that processes what is directly in front of you (your “central vision.” This leads to loss of the sharp, fine detail, “straight ahead” vision required for activities like reading, driving, recognizing faces, and seeing the world in color.
• Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in Americans aged 65 and older.²
• Advanced age-related macular degeneration is a leading cause of irreversible blindness and visual impairment in the world.

• Estimates of the global cost of visual impairment due to AMD are $343 billion, including $255 billion in direct healthcare costs.
• Estimates of the direct health care costs of visual impairment due to AMD in the U.S., Canada, and Cuba, collectively, is approximately US$98 billion.
• The global cost of vision loss due to all causes is estimated to be nearly $3 trillion for the 733 million people living with low vision and blindness worldwide. In North America alone, the direct cost of vision loss due to all causes was $512.8 billion, and the indirect costs were $179 billion.⁵

• Estimates of the global cost of visual impairment due to AMD are $343 billion, including $255 billion in direct healthcare costs.
• Estimates of the direct health care costs of visual impairment due to AMD in the U.S., Canada, and Cuba, collectively, is approximately US$98 billion.
• The global cost of vision loss due to all causes is estimated to be nearly $3 trillion for the 733 million people living with low vision and blindness worldwide. In North America alone, the direct cost of vision loss due to all causes was $512.8 billion, and the indirect costs were $179 billion.⁵

• To help diagnose macular degeneration, an eye care professional will perform a dilated eye exam, fundoscopy, visual acuity test, and fundus photography.
• If wet age-related macular degeneration is suspected, fluorescein angiography may be performed, in which dye is used to detect leaking blood vessels. You may also be asked to look at an Amsler grid to detect changes in your vision.

• Vitamins can help people with dry AMD decrease their risk of losing central vision. A specific high-dose formula of antioxidant vitamins and zinc may delay or prevent intermediate macular degeneration from progressing to the advanced stage.
• The first treatments for advanced dry macular degeneration (geographic atrophy) were approved in 2023; additional promising treatments are in clinical trials.

• It’s important to get comprehensive, dilated eye exams as recommended by your eye doctor. In these exams, the pupil is dilated with eye drops to allow your eye doctor to see into the retina.
• Because some eye diseases can begin in midlife but may not noticeably affect vision until later, the American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends people age 40 and older get a baseline comprehensive eye exam, with follow-up eye exams every one or two years or as indicated by your eye doctor.

Ongoing research is exploring environmental, genetic, and dietary factors that may contribute to macular degeneration. New treatment strategies are also being investigated, including:

• Retinal cell transplants
• Drugs to prevent or slow disease progress
• Radiation therapy
• Gene therapies
• A computer chip implanted in the retina that may help simulate vision
• Agents that will prevent new blood vessel growth under the macula

Macular Degeneration Research, a BrightFocus Foundation program, is a leading funder of research worldwide to better detect, prevent, and cure macular degeneration and provides expert information on this devastating disease.