African-Americans have lower incidence of Macular Degeneration

A study published online in Opthalmology pointed to a lower incidence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) among African-Americans as compared to Caucasians. Only one-tenth of African-Americans will develop late stage AMD. These findings come after researchers analyzed data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. While researchers were unable to find factors to explain their findings, the findings were consistent with past studies. The researchers analyzed information on 6814 adults ranging in age from 45 to 84 years. Among other things, the participants of the Multi-Ethnic Study did undergo fundus photography and completed detailed questionnaires and had clinical examinations which were evaluated by the researchers. Researchers found that the highest incidence of both early and late AMD was among white males. There was a 68% lower risk for African-Americans compared to Caucasians. It was noted by researchers that the study did have weaknesses that included that not all risk factors were measured in the whole sample.*