JAMA -- Genetic Research Provides Insights Into Age-Related Macular Degeneration, October 13, 2010, Hampton 304 (14): 1541

Genetic Research Provides Insights Into Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Tracy Hampton, PhD
JAMA. 2010;304(14):1541-1543. doi:10.1001/jama.2010.1411


Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.


With no cure and a prevalence twice that of Alzheimer disease, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is increasingly being recognized as a serious condition that leads to vision loss in a growing number of elderly persons. While a clear heritable component to the disease has been known for years, only recently have investigators begun to tease out the alterations in genetic pathways—particularly those involving complement and to some extent cholesterol—that play a role.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/vol304/issue14/images/medium/jmn05110fa.jpg
Figure 05110FA
Recent genetic discoveries are advancing scientists' understanding of the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration. (Photo credit: JAMA. 2006;295(20):2394-2406.)

Researchers have also learned that individuals who are genetically predisposed can take steps to ward off the disease. Studies indicate that a combination of environmental and hereditary risk factors confer a greater risk of AMD than that conferred by each risk factor individually. Experts are optimistic that this wealth of new information will spur additional discoveries . . . [Full Text of this Article]
JAMA -- Genetic Research Provides Insights Into Age-Related Macular Degeneration, October 13, 2010, Hampton 304 (14): 1541