Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of severe visual impairment among older people in high-income countries.
In a study from the University of Bonn and elsewhere scientists found regular use of drugs to lower cholesterol and control type 2 diabetes may lessen the risk of the degenerative eye disease associated with aging.
These common drugs are linked to a lower prevalence of AMD in European populations.
In Europe alone, 67 million people currently have AMD, with new cases projected to soar over the next few decades as populations age.
AMD affects central vision and the ability to see fine detail. Various genetic and environmental factors associated with aging are thought to trigger AMD, but it’s still not clear how best to prevent it or slow its progression.
Previously published research suggests that drugs to lower cholesterol, control diabetes, and tamp down inflammation may help to lessen the risk of developing AMD, but these findings were partly contradictory and based on small numbers of participants.
In the study, the team analyzed the results of 14 population-based and hospital-based studies, involving 38,694 people from France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Russia and the UK.
Participants were all over the age of 50 and taking at least one type of drug to lower cholesterol, including statins; control diabetes, including insulin; tamp down inflammation, excluding steroids; and treat movement disorders caused by neurodegenerative disease, including Levodopa.
The prevalence of AMD ranged from 12% to 64.5% across the included studies—9332 cases in total—while the prevalence of advanced (late) AMD ranged from 0.5% to 35.5%—951 cases in total.
The team found that drugs to lower cholesterol or control diabetes were associated with (respectively) 15% and 22% lower prevalence of any type of AMD.
No such associations were found for any of the other types of drugs or for advanced AMD, in particular.
The team says further longitudinal data are needed to confirm their findings.
The findings point to a likely key role for metabolic processes in the development of AMD, which may help develop new treatments and have implications for public health messaging/
If you care about eye health, please read studies about common eye diseases and conditions in older people, and how to keep your eyes healthy.
For more information about eye health, please see recent studies about how to protect your eyes from glaucoma, and results showing a drug for high cholesterol could help prevent diabetic eye diseases.
The study was conducted by Matthias Marten Marten Mauschitz et al and published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
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