When it comes to handling the common disease of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), healthcare professionals are keen to consider the many genetic and environmental factors involved.

Doing so helps them understand the condition and look out for risk factors to monitor early progression and minimise its impact. But what if one of the factors at play is the similarly common condition of sleep apnoea?

AMD is the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK, affecting 700,000 people (Macular Society, 2023), with about one in every 200 people having late-stage disease aged 60 and over.

Wet (neovascular) AMD has been treatable with the intravitreal injection of drugs for some years. While there is no proven treatment for early and intermediate dry AMD, recently effective treatment has been designed for geographic atrophy (GA), although it is not currently available in the UK. Treatments have also been designed for GA, but they are not currently available in the UK.

AMD is classified as being in an early, intermediate or late stage (NICE, 2018). Around half of people with late AMD have wet AMD and the other half have dry AMD (Ferris et al, 2013).