Losing vision as we get older is a scary thought, and for many people around the world, it’s a real problem.
One of the main causes of vision loss in older adults is age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
A research team led by Dr. Nicolas Bazan at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine has been working to understand AMD better and find new ways to protect our eyes as we age.
So what is AMD? Imagine your eye is like a camera. In the back part of the eye is the macula. It helps you see clearly, especially when reading or recognizing faces. When AMD damages the macula, your central vision becomes blurry or dark. It doesn’t cause total blindness, but it can make everyday tasks like reading or driving very hard.
In the U.S., about 20 million adults live with AMD. Around the world, that number is about 200 million—and it’s expected to reach 288 million by 2040. Your risk of AMD increases with age. After age 50, the chances go up, and by age 75, nearly 1 in 3 people may be affected.
Dr. Bazan’s team discovered something very interesting about fats in the eye, especially one called DHA. This fatty acid is important for eye health and helps create special repair molecules called elovanoids. These molecules help fix damaged eye cells and keep the retina healthy. When we’re younger, our eyes have enough DHA to keep everything working well.
But as we age, DHA levels drop—especially in people with AMD. With less DHA, the eye can’t make enough elovanoids, which means damaged cells don’t get repaired as well. This weakens the eye’s natural defense and leads to more damage.
The study also found some interesting differences between men and women. Women generally have more DHA than men because of the hormone estrogen. But after menopause, estrogen levels fall, and so does DHA. This may make older women more vulnerable to AMD. In fact, about 66% of people with AMD are women.
These findings give researchers hope for new ways to treat AMD. If we can find ways to boost DHA or make more elovanoids, we might be able to slow down or even prevent AMD. It could also lead to more personalized treatments for men and women.
This research shows just how complex our bodies are. Even something like a fatty acid or a hormone can have a big impact on our health. By continuing to study these connections, scientists are opening doors to better treatments and giving hope to people with AMD.
If you care about your eyes, be sure to learn how to protect them—especially if you have diabetes or suffer from dry eyes. Other studies have also shown ways to guard against glaucoma and even reduce dementia risk through certain eye surgeries.
This study was published in the journal Experimental Eye Research.
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