Statins may help eyesight to stay strong in later life

Drugs that lower people’s cholesterol can prevent age-related macular degeneration, study finds

STATINS and other drugs that lower cholesterol may prevent people from losing their eyesight in later life, scientists have found. Experts, led by a team from University Hospital Bonn in Germany, examined 14 studies involving almost 40,000 people from Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal and Russia.

They found that people taking statins were 15 per cent less likely to develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Similarly, they found that people prescribed type 2 diabetes drugs – such as insulin and anti-inflammatories – had a 22 per cent lower risk of AMD.

AMD, which affects more than 1.5 million people in Britain, is a progressive disease caused by the accumulation of fatty lipids and protein under the retina – the “camera” at the back of the eye.

The condition usually first affects people in their 50s and 60s and although it does not cause total blindness – affecting just the middle part of vision – it makes it difficult to read and recognise faces.

There are two forms of AMD, known as “wet” and “dry”. Of the two, the more common “dry” form accounts for 85 per cent of cases and there is no treatment.

Writing in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, Dr Matthias M Mauschitz, of the Department of Ophthalmology at University Hospital Bonn, said: “Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause for severe visual impairment and blindness in highincome countries and particularly affects the population above the age of 55 years.

“Our study indicates an association of systemic use of lipid-lowering drugs and antidiabetic drugs with lower AMD prevalence across several European cohort studies. These findings have implications for public health messages, underline the link of AMD with cardiovascular comorbidities and may provide potential future therapeutic targets.”

The exact cause of AMD is unknown, but it has been linked to smoking, high blood pressure, being overweight, and having a family history of the condition, hinting at a genetic component.

Researchers say the drugs may work by controlling the build-up of oxidised fats and proteins in the eye, which can clump together to form a lesion at the centre of the eye, which causes AMD.

As well as lowering fats, the drugs may have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects which prevent the lesion from forming, scientists believe.

In 2016, a small study by Harvard Medical School found that high-dose statins could actually reverse AMD, by clearing away fatty deposits in the retina. The trial led to improved vision in all participants.

Around 17 million people are eligible for statins in Britain.