Microbes in Your Gut Influence Major Eye Disease

AMD is characterized by a heightened immune response, sizeable deposits of fat debris at the back of the eye called soft drusen (early AMD), destruction of nerve cells, and growth of new diseased blood vessels (wet AMD, late form). While only accounting for roughly 10% of cases of AMD, wet AMD is the primary form leading to blindness. Current treatments becomes less effective with time. It is therefore important to find new ways to prevent the onset of this debilitating disease.

While many studies on the genetics of AMD have identified several genes that predispose to AMD, no single gene can account for development of the disease. Epidemiological data suggests that in men, overall abdominal obesity is the second most important environmental risk factor, after smoking, for progression to late-stage blinding AMD.