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Macular Degeneration And Estrogen:

Is There A Connection?

 

 

UC Davis researchers noticed a pattern: out of the 13 million adults affected by macular degeneration in the U.S. each year, postmenopausal women were twice as likely to develop this eye disease - and no one knows why.

 

In September of 1999, UC Davis and 19 other clinics began the first clinical trial research in U.S. history. The purpose of this research is to compile data of over 5,000 postmenopausal women who continuously participated during this eight-year study.

 

Some of the participants, who are undergoing hormone replacement therapy, will provide data that will be compared to women who were prescribed a placebo. By studying estrogen levels, researchers will be able to determine if macular degeneration is connected to the loss of estrogen and if hormone replacement therapy may help prevent the disease.

 

The Macular Degeneration Foundation, a key supporter of the study, has hopes of finding a method of treatment. "Recent genetic studies in children and adults suggest that macular degeneration may start earlier than we previously thought, so this study to find successful, preventive measures is urgently needed," stated Edmund Aleksandrovich, president and founder of the Macular Degeneration Foundation.

 

 

Sources: UC Davis. "Macular Degeneration Research". UC Davis Health System Pulse Scripts on the Web October 12, 2000. August 5, 2005, www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/pulse/scripts/99_00/macular.html. "Can Estrogen Prevent MD? Macular Degeneration Foundation on the Web, September 13, 1999. August 4, 2005, www.eyesight.org/Real_Solutions/Estrogen/estrogen.html.

 

Published by SafeGuard Health Plans, Inc. August 2005.