11th November 2015 - New research

L-DOPA REDUCES THE RISK OF LOSS OF EYESIGHT

L-dopa, which is commonly used for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease, has been found to reduce the risk of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), which is a leading cause of visual loss in the elderly. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a condition that causes the loss of central vision, usually in both eyes. In AMD, this vision becomes increasingly blurred, which means : reading becomes difficult, colours appear less vibrant, people's faces are difficult to recognise. For more information go to : Age-related Macular Degeneration

L-dopa is crucially involved in the biochemistry of eyesight. A key cell type involved in Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the retinal pigment epithelium, expresses a g-protein coupled receptor that, in response to L-dopa, upregulates pigment epithelia derived factor, while downregulating vascular endothelial growth factor. So researchers investigated the relationship between L-dopa and Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). In those people taking L-dopa, AMD occurred significantly later than in those people who did not take L-dopa. The likelihood of developing AMD at all was also found to be reduced in those people taking L-dopa, which is what many people with Parkinson's Disease take.

Reference : The American Journal of Medicine [2015] Oct 30 [Epub ahead of  print] (M.H.Brilliant, K.Vaziri, T.B.Connor Jr, S.G.Schwartz, J.J.Carroll , C.A.McCarty, S.J.Schrodi, S.J.Hebbring, K.S.Kishor, H.W.Flynn Jr, A.A.Moshfeghi, D.M.Moshfeghi, M.E.Fini, B.S.McKay) Complete abstract  In order to refer to this article on its own click here   For more news go to Parkinson's Disease News

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