Fræðigrein

Læknablaðið 2005; 91; 591-5

Age-Related Macular Degeneration is the leading cause of legal blindness in elderly people in Iceland as well as in the western world. If not adressed this will have a huge impact on the quality of life in the ever increasing elderly population. The etiology remains unknown inspite of a better understanding of the pathogenesis. Our treatment options have therfore been limited in the past. For the last few years we have seen a certain progress in drug development and introduction of new drugs into the treatment regime wich have reduced severe vision loss somewhat and increased quality of life for these patients. It has also given hope for better treatments to come, which ultimately will be able to stop the disease completely or even prevent it.