University of Wisconsin is one of 26 centers worldwide involved in a study that focused on pinpointing the genetics behind age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.
Shelby LaTona, Prevent Blindness Wisconsin spokesperson, said there are currently 41,106 Wisconsinites 50-years-old or older living with AMD. LaTona said right now the only way to prevent the primary form of AMD is to monitor certain lifestyle factors, such as maintaining healthy weight and cardiovascular health, refraining from smoking and limiting sun exposure.
Brilliant Murray, UW faculty member and one of the published study’s authors, said AMD is a slow and progressive degenerative disease that affects the macula.
“Imagine the back of your eye, a parabolic kind of cup at the very center, where your best vision is,” Murray said. “That is your macula.”
Murray said there are two types of AMD, one of which makes up 90 percent of cases and has no appropriate treatment. “Wet” AMD, which makes up the other 10 percent of cases, can be slowed dramatically by the injection of antibodies to the eye or by use of a vitamin mineral substance. UW researcher Barbara Blodi has done work on this substance in a prior study, Murray said.
Co-leader of the study Lindsay A. Farrer, medical geneticist at Boston University said in a statement the goal would be to develop a treatment that targets particular genetic variations that might cause AMD.
LaTona said studies like these are important to organizations like Prevent Blindness Wisconsin, which serve to distribute information and help individuals affected by vision impairments. Because they do not conduct any research on their own, Prevent Blindness Wisconsin and other similar organizations rely on the findings of outside blindness-related studies.
The study analyzed data from a large group of people across the world. Murray said the study looked at cases from the U.S., Australia, Israel, France and Germany. Out of about 40,000 DNA samples, Murray said approximately a quarter came from Wisconsin residents.
“Researchers at UW-Madison have played critical roles in understanding the genetics behind susceptibility to age-related macular degeneration,” Murray said.
