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Review
. 2016 Dec 22:3:34.
doi: 10.1186/s40662-016-0063-5. eCollection 2016.

Epidemiology of age-related macular degeneration (AMD): associations with cardiovascular disease phenotypes and lipid factors

Katie L Pennington  1 , Margaret M DeAngelis  1
Affiliations
Review

Epidemiology of age-related macular degeneration (AMD): associations with cardiovascular disease phenotypes and lipid factors

Katie L Pennington et al. Eye Vis (Lond). .

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in adults over 50 years old. Genetic, epidemiological, and molecular studies are beginning to unravel the intricate mechanisms underlying this complex disease, which implicate the lipid-cholesterol pathway in the pathophysiology of disease development and progression. Many of the genetic and environmental risk factors associated with AMD are also associated with other complex degenerative diseases of advanced age, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). In this review, we present epidemiological findings associating AMD with a variety of lipid pathway genes, cardiovascular phenotypes, and relevant environmental exposures. Despite a number of studies showing significant associations between AMD and these lipid/cardiovascular factors, results have been mixed and as such the relationships among these factors and AMD remain controversial. It is imperative that researchers not only tease out the various contributions of such factors to AMD development but also the connections between AMD and CVD to develop optimal precision medical care for aging adults.

Keywords: Antioxidants; Atherosclerosis; BMI; Cholesterol; Genetic association; Hypertension; Obesity; Retina; Statins; Stroke.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Progression of age-related macular degeneration. a Schematic drawing of an eye with relevant anatomic labels. b Fundus images of normal, intermediate (AREDS3), and advanced AMD (CNV and GA) eyes. Note the drusen deposits (AREDS3), atrophy (GA), and neovascularization (CNV). AMD, age-related macular degeneration; CNV, choroidal neovascularization; GA, geographic atrophy. Photos taken from DeAngelis lab patient cohorts. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Utah and conforms to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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