L-DOPA May Help with Macular Degeneration
Tuesday, November 10th, 2015 -- 8:20 AM
-A drug already used safely to treat Parkinson's disease, restless leg syndrome and other movement disorders also could delay or prevent the most common cause of blindness affecting more than 9 million older Americans ? age-related macular degeneration.Researchers have discovered that patients who take the drug L-DOPA are significantly less likely to develop AMD, and if they do get AMD it's at a significantly older age, according to study published online Nov. 4 in the American Journal of Medicine. The retrospective study was led by researchers at Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, University of Arizona, Medical College of Wisconsin, University of Miami, Essentia Health, Stanford University and University of Southern California.
Researchers examined health records of 37,000 Marshfield Clinic patients looking for those with AMD, those taking L-DOPA and those with both L-DOPA and AMD. They then determined the age patients developed AMD. According to national statistics, the average age at which individuals are given L-DOPA is 67; the average age of AMD diagnosis is 71. In those people who got L-DOPA before being diagnosed with AMD, their AMD diagnosis occurred eight years later than those without L-DOPA.
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