Driving and Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

Rogan FraserMacular Research UnitCentre for Eye Research Australia

What do we know about AMD? – a Quiz

• True/False: Only people over 70 can be diagnosed with AMD

False. AMD can be diagnosed in patients as young as 50.

• True/False: Early AMD is treated with monthly injections to the eye

False. At present there is no proven, effective treatment for early AMD – but we’re working on this.

• True/False: In developed countries like ours, AMD is the leading cause of visual impairment in people over the age of 55.

True.

What do we know about driving and AMD together?

• Driving is a complicated task

• Driving in some conditions is

more difficult than others

• Driving becomes more

challenging as we age

• When a person that used to

drive is no longer able to drive,

they can experience depression

and isolation

• One of the first problems that many patients with AMD report is difficulty with night driving

What do we know about driving?

Why do we care about driving?

1. We would like to better understand why AMD patients have such difficulty driving at night

2. We think we may be able to develop a test that can prove that AMD patients do have difficulty driving at night

3. We may be able to show that some of the treatments for early AMD are actually effective

4. Using a driving simulator has to be more enjoyable than every other eye test you’ve ever had