By Five per cent of Galway residents tested positive for age-related macular degeneratio (AMD ), a leading cause of blindness, and have since been referred on to an eye specialist.
These medical examinations were conducted during AMD Awareness Week (September 22 to September 30 ), and the condition which the five per cent were symptomatic of is known to be the most common cause of registered blindness in Ireland and other western countries. This statistic indicates that the number of people in Galway with AMD is below the national average of 10 per cent.
The free AMD tests in Galway were carried out in the Galway Golf Club and in the Ballybane library, and the data was calculated using the 59 samples of those who volunteered to take part. Further testing also took place at independent optometrists nationwide through the Association of Optometrists Ireland.
AMD affects one in 10 people over the age of 50, despite not being as prevalent an ailment as cataracts or glaucoma. Further information on AMD can be found atwww.amd.ie
