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Presenter: AMD has genetic, nutritional, environmental components
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BOSTON — "Age-related macular degeneration is a complex disease," Johanna M. Seddon, MD, ScM, told attendees at the Ocular Nutrition Society meeting, held prior to Academy 2011 Boston.
Dr. Seddon is director of the Ophthalmic Epidemiology and Genetics Service at the New England Eye Center at Tufts Medical Center and a professor of ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. People respond differently to vitamins and minerals depending on genetics, she said.
"There are a multiple number of genes that lead to AMD," she said. "In 2006 we tried to combine them into a risk profile. The tip of the iceberg is the individuals who have the adverse genotypes for all of these genes.
"In contrast, if you have none of those risk genotypes, you are very low risk," she continued. "Most of us have a mixed group of genotypes. A small percentage has none or all."
In a group of people all with the same genotype, a higher body mass index and smoking will increase that risk, Dr. Seddon said.
"Some people with a certain gene responded less to the Age-Related Eye Disease Study supplement," she continued. "There may come a point where good habits and healthy lifestyles may have a lower influence on the disease if you have certain types of genetic susceptibility."