New Clues on Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration affects more than 1.75 million people in the U.S., and with a rapidly aging population, that number will rise to 3 million by 2020. People struck with the disease first lose central vision and temporarily adjust by relying more on peripheral vision. Some eventually lose their vision entirely.

A diet rich in antioxidants, found in artichokes, blueberries and pecans, seems to hold the disease at bay, but the “how” was unknown. Researchers at Brigham Young University and Weill Medical College of Cornell University discovered a link between two processes in the retina that, in combination, contribute to the disease and found antioxidants disrupt the link and extend the lifetime of irreplaceable photoreceptors and other retinal cells. See more at http://byunews.byu.edu/archive08-Aug-antioxidants.aspx.