Ten-Year Follow-up of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness in the United States and the developed world, with a 2-fold increase in prevalence expected by the year 2020.¹ Population-based studies have provided data on progression rates for the development of early AMD but only a limited amount of data on progression rates for the development of the advanced stages of AMD.^2,3 In 1992, the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) Research Group enrolled participants with varying degrees of AMD severity in a study of the clinical course and prognosis of AMD and age-related cataracts. The study included a randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effect of high doses of antioxidant vitamins (vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta carotene) and zinc (with copper) on progression to advanced AMD. In 2001, at the end of the clinical trial, the study reported that the AREDS vitamin-mineral formulation was effective in retarding progression to advanced AMD.⁴ The AREDS participants continued to be followed up until 2005 in an observational study that tracked the subsequent course of AMD in the participants. The long-term effects of the AREDS formulation on AMD have been summarized in another report.⁵ The purpose of this report is to present 10-year data on the clinical course of AMD, including rates of development of intermediate and advanced AMD and accompanying changes in visual acuity.