A study in the North East of England found that one of the main 3
'primary' LHON genes
is found in about 1 of every 10,000 people.
LHON was found in about 1 in 30,000 people and causes loss of eyesight
in about 1 in 14,000 adult males.
The UK 2001 Census put the population at about 58,790,000.
This would mean about 5,879 adults carrying one of the
primary LHON genes and about 1959 people affected by Leber's in the UK.
The Australian Board of Statistics gave the resident population in 2001
as about 18,972,000 adults.
Assuming the same proportion of adults as the UK study, this indicates
that about 1897 people are carrying one of the primary LHON genes and 632 people affected by Leber's in Australia.
A recent US Census puts their population at just over 291,000,000 people, this
gives an estimated figure of about
29,100 in the US carrying one of the main LHON genes and about 9,700
people suffering from Leber's in the US.
In a different study it was estimated that about 1 in 50 registered
(legally) blind people in Australia have LHON.
The UK Office of National Statistics put the number of registered blind people
in England at 157,820 (March 2000) which would give an estimated figure for those
affected by Leber's of 3156 if the percentage estimate for Australia was reflected in England.
The number of registered blind people in Scotland in 2001 is 24,771, giving
an estimate for the number of people blind through LHON at about 495 people.