A leading cause of vision loss in aging Americans, macular degeneration is a progressive eye condition brought on by the deterioration of the retina. It can severely damage sharp and central vision used for everything from reading to driving.
Just as there’s no cure for the condition — though treatments ranging from medications to laser eye therapy can help — no proven method exists to prevent what’s also commonly referred to as age-related macular degeneration, or AMD.
However, there are still ways to reduce one’s chances of developing the disorder or delay its onset to protect vision. And emerging research is eyeing a drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease, to see if it may someday forestall the development of age-related macular degeneration.
“I think in the end we’re going to be able to prevent AMD,” says Brian McCay, associate professor of ophthalmology and vision science at the University of Arizona who led the research published last month in the American Journal of Medicine, which included pouring over 87 million patient records nationwide. In particular, researchers zeroed in on patients who were administered the drug levodopa, also called L-dopa, which is used to treat Parkinson’s and other movement disorders. The drug is a synthetic form of a naturally occurring molecule that plays a part in maintaining a healthy macula, an area near the center of the retina. And analysis of patient records found that those given the drug appeared far less likely to develop macular degeneration, or developed it much later than those who weren’t administered the drug.
“We found [that with the drug], we can reduce the risk of getting the disease, first of all, and second of all, when [patients] do get the disease, it’s pushed back. So rather than getting it at [age] 71 on average, they’re getting it at 78 or 79. So we can delay the early onset of the disease.” Specifically, the researchers found that the L-dopa prevented and delayed the less common “wet,” or more advanced form of AMD, which is responsible for the majority of AMD-caused blindness. AMD typically starts dry and then advances to the wet form, in which abnormal blood vessels grow toward the macula and may burst or leak fluid and damage the macula.
“I’m showing the way forward to actually stop this disease. But we have more work to do,” says McCay, who has been puzzling over how to prevent AMD for years. He will be a consultant on a planned multi-center clinical trial to test whether L-dopa can prevent the progression of AMD. That research will be led by University of Arizona professor, private-practice ophthalmologist and entrepreneur, Dr. Robert Snyder, who is co-founder of a Tucson-based startup, Snyder Biomedical Corp., which seeks to develop treatments for serious eye diseases that cause blindness. “Our goal is to complete the funding and planning phase within six months, [and] the recruitment and study phase over another three-and-a-half years,” Snyder says.
Eye doctors unaffiliated with the research say McCay’s work is compelling, though whether it leads to a proven method of preventing macular degeneration remains to be seen. “I thought it was an interesting and promising first step, but I think that there’s a long way to go before we start prescribing L-dopa to our patients to prevent macular degeneration or change the disease course,” says retina specialist Dr. Anjali Shah at the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center, which is home to the University of Michigan Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, in Ann Arbor.
“I’m glad they’re data mining this topic,” adds Dr. Justin Townsend, retina surgeon at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Miami. Still, like Shah, he says he’s waiting for additional research before he would prescribe the drug in his practice. Though sometimes preliminary research can lead doctors to prescribe a drug “off-label” — or in a way for which it wasn’t approved — Townsend notes that known side effects of the drug, from dangerous dips in blood pressure to extreme mood changes, are another a deterrent to doing so.
Instead he and Shah say that for the time being, patients concerned about developing macular degeneration should try methods proven to lower that risk. A few examples:
— Quit smoking. “Smoking … can triple your risk of developing advanced macular degeneration. So, don’t smoke,” Shah says.
— Be heart healthy. “A lot of the risk factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease have also been associated with developing advanced macular degeneration,” she says. “So we think that, in general, anything that increases your risk for cardiovascular disease is going to increase your risk for developing macular degeneration. And those are things that should probably be avoided.”
— Improve your diet. Eat green leafy vegetables, Townsend says. And make other tried and true dietary choices, including eating plenty of other veggies and fruits. Experts say that while data vary on the impact of particular nutrients on macular degeneration, a heart-healthy lifestyle, including proper diet, may help keep the eye doctor away.
— Get regular eye exams as often as once a year — particularly if macular degeneration runs in your family. Early detection and treatment can delay progression of the disease.
“There’s clearly a genetic component. We know that patients who have a genetic history of AMD may be more likely to develop it at an earlier age, and may be more likely to develop late-stage AMD,” Shah says. “But we also know that there are multiple environmental risk factors involved as well.” Even as research seeks to prevent macular degeneration in the future, experts say, patients can take steps — today — to lower their risk.
More from U.S. News
Which Practitioner Do I See, and When?
7 Things to Know if You’ve Received a Diabetes Diagnosis
10 Ways to Live Healthier and Save Money Doing It
Researchers Seek Path to Prevent Macular Degeneration originally appeared on usnews.com
