ABSTRACT
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a degenerative condition of the human macula characterized by the dysfunction and disruption of photoreceptors secondary to an atrophic and/or a neovascular event. AMD is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in people older than 50 years of age in the United States and European Union and currently affects more than 4 million Americans (Friedman et al. 2004; Klein et al. 2004). It is thought that this number will increase to 8 million people by the year 2020. Several epidemiological studies have shown an increase in the prevalence of AMD with increasing age (Hawkins et al. 1999; Smith et al. 2001). Due to the increasing longevity and demographic shift toward an elderly population, AMD prevalence is predicted to rise signicantly with subsequent increase in socioeconomic problems too. The existing therapeutic interventions are not available to all of the AMD sufferers. Hence, the best approaches to minimize the impact of this vision disorder on quality of life are delay, prevention, modication, or arrest of degenerative progression.
