Eye Health News

Reticular drusen 4x more likely to develop wet macular degeneration

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Early detection of macular degeneration with electroretinography Reading Reticular drusen 4x more likely to develop wet macular degeneration 2 minutes Next Macular Degeneration can affect those under 50
  [caption id="attachment_4942" align="alignright" width="300"] Reticular drusen are indistinct, interlacing, yellowish lesions occurring in the outer macula.[/caption] University of Sydney researchers have discovered a link between reticular drusen and the progression of macular degeneration. Patients in the study that had reticular drusen were four times more likely to go on to develop the wet form of macular degeneration than those who did not have reticular drusen. Patients who increased their dietary intake of fish, however, lessened their risk. The study involved 3654 participants and included over 15 years of follow-up. What researchers found was that 33.9% of participants who had reticular drusen at baseline went on to develop late AMD over a period of five years. This was more likely to occur in patients with reticular drusen located outside the macula. In addition, being a current smoker also greatly increased the risk of progressing to the wet form of AMD. Other factors increased the likelihood of developing late stage AMD. Women were twice as likely to develop wet AMD compared to men; participants with the CFH gene or the ARMS2 gene were also a greater risk.*