Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) Overview

Source: Plos Medicine. 2013.

The third leading global cause of blindness (after cataracts and glaucoma) is age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

This group of conditions is characterized by lesions in the macular (central) region of the retina, the tissue at the back of the eye that converts light into electrical messages and sends them to the brain.

AMD, which affects older people, destroys the sharp central vision that is needed for reading or driving, leaving only dim, blurred images or a black hole at the center of vision.

AMD can be diagnosed by examining digital photographs of the retina or by examining the retina directly using a special magnifying lens (slit lamp biomicroscopy).

There is no cure for AMD, although injections into the eye of certain drugs, such as bevacizumab, that block the activity of vascular endothelial growth factor can slow the rate of vision loss caused by some forms of AMD.

Melanoma Prognosis (mortality)

• Melanoma is a skin cancer
• Lifetime risk of developing melanoma within the entire caucasian population is estimated to be 1:535 individuals. 
• Incidence is higher in individuals with fair skin who have been exposed to high levels of UV-B radiation. 
• The melanoma accounts for only 4% of skin cancers, but for 79% of skin-cancer related deaths.

Hepatitis C Overview

Drs Jeffrey Vietri1, Girish Prajapati and Antoine C El Khoury. USA. BMC Gastroenterology. 2013

An estimated 160 million people are chronically infected with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) worldwide . Approximately 9 million have HCV infection in Europe, with greater prevalence in the southern and eastern regions.

While the incidence of new cases is low, few patients exposed to the virus spontaneously clear the infection, so exposure typically results in chronic infection that will continue indefinitely. Many chronically infected patients do not know that they have been infected with HCV, as infection is largely asymptomatic.