AMD is the leading cause of irreversible legal blindness (less than 20/200 in both eyes) in patients over 65 years of age and is the commonest cause of blindness in the Western world. More than three million Americans are visually disabled by AMD, with that figure to triple by the year 2020. Every year, an estimated 400,000 people in the U.S. develop a severe form of the disease, with 16,000 cases of legal blindness per year. Although more common in the older population, the disease has been reported to be the second leading (diabetes being first) cause of legal blindness in the 45-64 year age group.