Abstract
Presentation Description :
In recent years, special attention has been paid towards gender specific medicine, as sex steroid hormones (estrogen, progesterone, and androgen) have been proven to affect lacrimal glands, ocular surface, crystalline lens, retina and choroidal network anatomy and function. Therefore, sex, menstrual cycles, pregnancy, and menopause or andropause, where the hormonal milieu changes, may affect vision and may be either a protective or risk factor for several ocular conditions, including age-related macular degeneration (ARMD). A recent metanalysis has found a slightly higher incidence of late ARMD in women compared with men, with a more consistent difference among the neovascular subtype (NV-ARMD) rather than the atrophic one. Older age at menarche and earlier menopause may be responsible of greater hazard of advanced disease, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) play a protective effect, especially against NV-ARMD. Hoewever, conflicting data have been published so far and information on the possible association between hormonal level and ARMD is sparse and non-conclusive.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.