Who is at risk of age-related macular degeneration?

As the name suggests, the age plays the most significant role in the pathogenesis of "age-related" macular degeneration, including normal aging.

People aged over 50 years may already be presenting the first signs of disease, the incidence increasing with advancing age reaching 25-50% in 85year-olds, and 50-100% in 90year old patients.

It becomes clear that with the increase in life expectancy, age-related macular degeneration, concerns us all and occurs within the "normal" aging of the body. In this sense, all factors known to "accelerate" these aging processes, such as smoking, high cholesterol and generally "unhealthy lifestyle", lead to a greater chance of the disease appearing or progressing rapidly.

Genetic predisposition also appears to play an important role in the onset of age-related macular degeneration, the relatives of sufferers have been more likely to develop the disease at an even earlier age. With the rapid development that exists in the fields of biology and genetics, reliable genetic tests will soon be included in everyday clinical practice, with which both the incidence of disease and the likelihood of response to various forms of treatment will be determine.