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Washington: Scientists have developed a new technique which they claim will help detect healthy people at risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide.
Now, a team at Queensland University of Technology, led by eye specialist Dr Beatrix Feigl, has come up with the "dim light vision" test which it says is very sensitive to early changes in a person`s vision.
"We can detect subclinical visual impairment in healthy participants genetically at risk for AMD. In the future we hope this test might be utilised by ophthalmologists and optometrists to identify patients with a high genetic risk of developing AMD but without any clinical signs of disease.
"This would enable specialists to advise patients on lifestyle changes which may delay disease onset and reduce its severity," she said.
Dr Feigl said that genetic pre-disposition accounted for around half the cases of AMD. However, lifestyle risk factors for AMD, which could be controlled by a patient, included poor diet, lack of exercise and smoking.
"We know that lifestyle changes can decrease a person`s chance of getting worse forms of the disease," she said.
