Posted on 11/19/2005 12:05:31 AM PST by neverdem
A bacterium linked to heart disease may also be a factor in age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over 55 in the United States.
A new study has found the organism, Chlamydia pneumoniae, in the eye tissue of 6 of 9 patients with macular degeneration, but in none of 22 who did not have the disorder.
The paper, based on work carried out at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, was published in the November issue of Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.
Most vision loss in age-related macular degeneration is caused by the growth of abnormal blood vessels under the retina, a form called neovascular. With it, the vessels bleed, and scar tissue is formed, blocking vision.
One phase in the growth of these blood vessels is the production of vascular endothelial growth factor, the body's response to injury and inflammation.
In this study, researchers using human eye tissue demonstrated that C. pneumoniae may, at least in some cases, be the reason for the inflammation.
While recent studies have shown that drug therapy for the vascular endothelial growth factor can be effective, the underlying cause of age-related macular degeneration is poorly understood.
Dr. Joan W. Miller, the senior author on the paper and chairwoman of the department of ophthalmology at Harvard, remains cautious.
"There is growing evidence that chronic inflammation plays a role in the development of macular degeneration," Dr. Miller said, "and our findings suggest that chlamydia may cause some of this inflammation."
But, she warned, "Our data is very preliminary, and really just supports a link between chlamydia and macular degeneration."
Dr. Murat V. Kalayoglu, a research fellow at Harvard who directed the study, pointed out that C. pneumoniae is not the same as chlamydia...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Sounds like good news to me. I've seen what macular degeneration has done to some people, and they're very brave, but its more than I want to deal with.
Thanks!
Interesting information. This reminds me of the discovery that bacteria can cause stomach ulcers-- a discovery that came too late for my poor dad.
bump
Good news.
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