The ageing of the world's population is one of the major achievements of modern society. By 2050, an estimated 2 billion people will be aged 60 years or over. However, ageing poses major challenges and this is especially true for the field of ophthalmology, given that the major eye diseases - age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataract - predominantly affect the elderly.

The challenges facing ophthalmology in an ageing society have not previously been addressed in a comprehensive way, although there are common denominators of the various eye diseases that affect the elderly. This book provides such a comprehensive overview encompassing epidemiology, risk factors, current treatment and prophylaxis, disability, co-morbidity, and the impact on quality of life.

World leaders in their respective fields provide state-of-the-art knowledge on the geriatric aspects of ophthalmology that will help to improve the management of this growing patient population.

Autorentext

Hendrik P.N. Scholl, M.D., M.A. is the Dr. Frieda Derdeyn Bambas Professor of Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute and the Director of the Retinal Degeneration Clinic. He is also the Director of the Visual Neurophysiology Service of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He received his M.D. from the Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Germany, and did his residency at the Centre for Ophthalmology, University of Tuebingen. He did a clinical research fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK. In 2004, he was awarded a HeisenbergFellowship of the German Research Foundation for his achievements in the field of macular degeneration and subsequently joined the faculty at the Dept. of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn for 5 years until he was recruited to the Wilmer Eye Institute in 2010.

Dr. Scholl specializes in medical and surgical management of retinal diseases such as agerelated macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. He has a specific expertise in inherited retinal and macular degenerations including retinitis pigmentosa and Leber's congenital amaurosis and uses latest technology for the diagnosis of these disorders such as electroretinography, microperimetry and highresolution imaging.

Dr. Scholl's primary research interest relates to visual loss in retinal degenerations and to therapeutic measures in order to rescue vision. He uses psychophysical and electrophysiological methods to measure visual function and highresolution topographic and tomographic imaging to investigate retinal structure. He aims at developing more efficient markers for upcoming clinical trials. Dr. Scholl has been funded in the past by the European Commission and the German Research Foundation. In 2008, he received the European Vision Award and in 2010 the WynnGund Translational Research Award by the Foundation Fighting Blindness and the Macular Degeneration Research Award by the American Health Assistance Foundation.

Inhalt

Ophthalmic Disease of the Ageing Society. Epidemiology of Eye Diseases in Older Populations: Blindness and Visual Impairment: Global Perspective.- Blindness and visual impairment: High income countries. Genetics, Gene-Environment Interactions and Prophylaxis: Cataract, Age-related Macular Degeneration and Primary Open Angle Glaucoma: Risk Factors.- Age-related Macular Degeneration and Primary Open-angle Glaucoma: Genetics and Gene-Environment Interaction.- Preventive Therapies for Age Related Macular Degeneration: Current Guidelines. Current Treatment of the Major Eye Diseases of the Elderly: Innovations in Cataract surgery.- Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Rationale for Current Treatment Guidelines.- Dry Eye Syndrome in the elderly: challenges and treatment options. The Impact of Visual Disability on Daily Life in Older Populations: Cataract and diabetic retinopathy: Impact on quality of life.- Glaucoma and Quality of Life.- Impact of early and late age-related macular degeneration on quality of life.- Vision and Driving Performance in Elderly.- Depressive and Cognitive Disorders in Patients with AMD.- Visual Disability in the Elderly: Implications for Visual Rehabilitation.