AMD Risk Calculator

« Back to MyVisionTest
« Back to risk calculators

This calculator sums up individual risk factors for AMD and generates an overall probability score for the development of advanced AMD over the next 6 years. It is based upon data for Caucasian participants in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), a longitudinal study of AMD that ended in December 2005. The original research that made this calculator possible is discussed here. The free full text of the original research article is available here.

Definitions: The above research paper gives the following definition of progression: "Progressors were those individuals with early or intermediate AMD at baseline who progressed to advanced AMD during follow-up, and individuals with advanced AMD in one eye at baseline who progressed to advanced AMD in both eyes." Advanced AMD is defined as either neovascular AMD or central geographic atrophy.

Genotype Questions: The precision of the estimation of your individual risk for developing advanced AMD improves substantially if you know your genotype. There are many retail DNA testing services currently available that can provide you with this information. However, I am not aware of any single test that currently types all six genes used in this calculator (but this will probably change with time).

Why does knowing you risk for advanced AMD matter? High-risk individuals should monitor their vision more frequently. Self-monitoring is the best way to detect disease progression in a timely manner. High-risk individuals should also be encouraged to follow a healthy lifestyle by not smoking, eating vegetables and fish, maintaining a normal weight and getting exercise, and taking antioxidant–mineral supplements.

Enter as much information as is known into the form below to calculate your risk of progression to advanced AMD. If unknown, respond "No".

Variable			Description
Demographics
Age 70 or more	Yes	No
Sex	M	F
Education	Some college	High school or less	Highest level of formal education completed. At least come college, or high school graduate or less.
Ocular Characteristics
Intermediate drusen and/or noncentral geographic atrophy in worst eye	Yes	No	Presence of intermediate drusen (at least one large drusen of at least 125-µm diameter, or extensive intermediate drusen) and/or geographic atrophy not involving the fovea in your worst eye. (AREDS category 3 AMD in one or both eyes.) Please consult your eye doctor to learn what stage AMD you currently have.
Neovascular AMD or central geographic atrophy in one eye	Yes	No	Presence of choroidal neovascularization or central geographic atrophy in one eye. (AREDS category 4 AMD in one eye.) Please consult your eye doctor to learn what stage AMD you currently have.
Medical History
Current smoking	Yes	No	Currently smokes any tobacco product
Past smoking	Yes	No	Does not currently smoke, but has smoked for at least 6 months in the past
BMI 25-29	Yes	No	Body mass index is between 25 and 29. Check your BMI
BMI 30+	Yes	No	Body mass index is 30 or more. Check your BMI
Nutraceutical use
Antioxidant-only supplement	Yes	No	Currently uses the AREDS vitamin supplement (vitamin C [500 mg], vitamin E [400 IU] and beta-carotene [15 mg]) without zinc
Zinc-only supplement	Yes	No	Currently uses the AREDS zinc-only supplement (zinc [80 mg] and copper [2 mg])
Antioxidant-zinc supplement	Yes	No	Currenly uses the AREDS antioxidant plus zinc supplement
Genetics
rs1061170 Y402H CT	Yes	No	Heterozygous for the complement factor H (CFH) Y402H (rs1061170) polymorphism in exon 9 of the CFH gene on chromosome 1, region q31, with the change 1277T->C resulting in a substitution of a histidine for a tyrosine at codon 402 of the CFH protein
rs1061170 Y402H CC	Yes	No	Homozygous for the CFH Y402H (rs1061170) polymorphism
rs10490924 LOC387715 GT	Yes	No	Heterozygous for the LOC387715 A69S polymorphism (rs10490924), also known as ARMS2, in the LOC387715/HTRA1 region of chromosome 10. This is a nonsynonymous coding single nucleotide polymorphism in exon 1 of LOC387715, resulting in a substitution of the amino acid serine for alanine at codon 69
rs10490924 LOC387715 TT	Yes	No	Homozygous for the LOC387715 A69S polymorphism (rs10490924)
rs1410996 CFH CT	Yes	No	Heterozygous for CFH rs1410996, an independently associated single nucleotide polymorphism within intron 14 of the CFH gene
rs1410996 CFH CC	Yes	No	Homozygous for CFH rs1410996
rs9332739 C2 CG or CC	Yes	No	Homozygous or heterozygous for complement factor 2 (C2) E318D (rs9332739), the nonsynonymous coding single nucleotide polymorphism in exon 7 of C2 resulting in the amino acid glutamic acid changing to aspartic acid at codon 318
rs641153 CFB CT or TT	Yes	No	Homozygous or heterozygous for complement factor B (CFB) R32Q (rs641153), the nonsynonymous coding single nucleotide polymorphism in exon 2 of CFB resulting in the amino acid glutamine changing to arginine at codon 32
rs2230199 C3 CG	Yes	No	Heterozygous for complement factor 3 (C3) R102G (rs2230199), the nonsynonymous coding single nucleotide polymorphism in exon 3 of C3 resulting in the amino acid change of glycine to arginine at codon 102
rs2230199 C3 GG	Yes	No	Homozygous for complement factor 3 (C3) R102G (rs2230199)

Disclaimer: Please note that my only contribution to this risk calculator is to implement the research that has been published by others and to make it freely available to the public. I take no credit (or blame) for the accuracy or utility of this calculator.

Privacy Notice: We respect your privacy and do not collect or retain any information from this form.