Scientific breakthrough could cut risk of thousands going blind
Age-related macular degeneration usually hits those in their 50s and 60s and affects around 600,000 people in Britain alone. There are two types of the condition -Wet and Dry – and no cures. The only treatment for Dry AMD, is wearing specs, while Wet AMD can be slowed with light treatment or jabs. But now a University of Manchesterled team has discovered the condition is caused by the failure of proteins which regulate the immune system.
Their early findings suggest that between 40 and 50 per cent of AMD sufferers have elevated levels of at least one of the five “FHR” proteins.
And they hope their discovery will not only help develop sight-saving pharmaceutical treatments, but could one day herald a test to identify those at risk from AMD.
Dr Richard Unwin, ofThe University of Manchester’s Stoller Biomarker Discovery Centre, said: “This is hugely important for people with AMD.
Measuring the levels of these FHR proteins has been a big challenge over the last few years.
“It is technically quite challenging because they are present at low levels in the blood and are very similar to each other.
“By using state-of-the-art mass spectrometry methods, we can now confidently measure these proteins.
“We can show for the first time what is an important, if not the most important, factor in how AMD develops.”
