Many Factors Contribute to AMD: Study

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A wide range of genetic and environmental factors contribute to the risk of developing the eye disease age-related macular degeneration (AMD), says a U.S. study.

Researchers followed more than 1,400 people for an average of 6.3 years and identified a number of risk factors that were used to develop a predictive and possibly diagnostic model, United Press International reported.

The factors include gene variants, age, smoking, body mass index, and ocular and environmental factors. All were independently associated with AMD.

"The determinants of the model can be assessed by completing a questionnaire and taking a blood test, and it is a tool which could be used to help guide prevention and treatments," lead author Dr. Johanna M. Seddon, of Tufts University School of Medicine, and director of the Ophthalmic Epidemiology and Genetics Service and Tufts Medical Center, said in a news release, UPI reported.

The study was published in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.