• Soft drusen: Soft drusen refer to yellow/white deposits visible in the macular area of the retina.
• Pigmentary changes at the macula in the retina part of the eye.
• Macular pigment:There is a growing body of evidence that macular pigment (which is entirely of dietary origin) may play a role in the prevention, or delay in the onset or progression, of visually consequential AMD. Recent research has shown that people at increased risk of developing visually consequential AMD have low levels of this pigment even before the disease occurs.
• Long-sightedness or Hypermetropia is a suggested risk factor for visually consequential AMD.
• Iris (eye) colour: Light eye colour is a suggested risk factor for visually consequential AMD.
• Prior cataract surgery: There is some evidence that prior cataract surgery is associated with increased risk of visually consequential AMD.

Non-ocular risk factors:
There are many non-ocular risk factors for visually consequential AMD.

• Family history of visually consequential AMD: Family history of visually consequential AMD is one of the most important and established risk factors for this condition.  In fact, having a first degree relative (i.e. parent/brother/sister) with visually consequential AMD is believed to increase your risk of developing visually consequential AMD threefold when compared to an individual without such a confirmed family of disease. 
• Cigarette smoking: Cigarette smoking is one of the most important and established risk factors for visually consequential AMD. The risk of developing visually consequential AMD is two to three times greater among current smokers when compared with people who have never smoked cigarettes.  
• Diet: Current research has shown that diet is an important risk factor for visually consequential AMD. In particular, a diet containing the macular carotenoids is believed to be important in preventing the onset of visually consequential AMD.
• Antioxidant supplements: Antioxidant supplements have been shown to be beneficial in reducing the progression of non-visually consequential AMD to visually consequential AMD (i.e. preventing AMD that has not yet affected vision from developing into AMD that does affect vision).  Also, there is a growing body of evidence that antioxidant supplements containing the macular carotenoids may be beneficial in terms of preventing or delaying the onset or progression of AMD.
• Ethnicity: White race is associated with increased risk of visually consequential AMD. However, the prevalence of visually consequential AMD is on the increase in non-white populations, probably due to the fact that western lifestyle habits are becoming more common worldwide (e.g. diets deficient in fruit and vegetable intake). 
• Obesity: Obesity is a suggested risk factor for visually consequential AMD. In fact, there appears to be a growing body of evidence in support of the view that obesity is an important determinant for the development of visually consequential AMD.
• Sex: Female sex is a suggested risk factor for visually consequential AMD, and the link between female sex and development of visually consequential AMD is believed to be hormone-related (i.e. oestrogen-related). However, the evidence available is not conclusive, and the greater prevalence of visually consequential AMD in females may be due to the fact that females live longer.
• Cumulative exposure to visible light: Cumulative exposure to visible light is a suggested risk factor for visually consequential AMD.
• Cholesterol: High cholesterol is a putative/suggested risk factor for visually consequential AMD.
• High Blood Pressure/Hypertension: High blood pressure is a suggested risk factor for visually consequential AMD.

Top