Degenerative eye disease can blurs a person’s central vision and occurs when people get older.
Other factors leading to the condition include environmental factors such as smoking, obesity and diet, and can also be hereditary.
Degenerative eye disease is common among people aged over 50, who may first develop it in one or both eyes.
According to new research, people who regularly take drugs to lower their cholesterol levels - such as statins - and who are able to safely manage their Type 2 diabetes will significantly lower their risk of developing the eye condition later in life.
According to John Hopkin’s Medicine, there are two types of degenerative and macular eye disease.
One is dryness, which is the more common type, accounting for around 80% of cases.
“Its exact cause is unknown, although both genetic and environmental factors are thought to play a role,” explains the health site.
It added: ”This happens as the light-sensitive cells in the macula slowly break down, generally one eye at a time and the loss of vision in this condition is usually slow and gradual.”
The other type is wet, which is less common and “usually leads to more severe vision loss in patients”.
According to the pooled data analysis, which was published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, these common drugs have been strongly linked with helping to reduce the eye disease, potentially helping to avoid blindness or other eye issues synonymous with the disease.
The research also revealed that these drugs are linked to having a lower prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the leading cause of severe visual impairment among older people.
AMD currently affects around 67 million people in Europe with diagnoses set to soar even higher in the next few decades.
This conclusion was reached when researchers looked at data of 14 different countries, using hospital-based studies from countries such as France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Norway, Russia, Portugal and the UK.
Some 38,694 people were involved in the study, all aged over 50 and taking at least one drug to either lower their cholesterol, control their diabetes or to help treat a movement disorder.
Prevalence of AMD among the participants ranged from 12 to 64.5%.
The results of the research revealed that by taking these drugs, participants lowered their risk by 15 to 22% respectively.
These results were not found among any other drugs helping to treat conditions.
“Our study suggests that regular intake of [lipid lowering] and anti-diabetic drugs is associated with reduced prevalence of AMD in the general population,” wrote the authors of the study.
They added: “Given a potential interference of these drugs with pathophysiological pathways relevant in AMD, this may contribute to a better understanding of AMD aetiology.
“Yet, further longitudinal data are needed to confirm our findings, which are inherently limited by using cross-sectional data only and cannot infer causality,” they cautioned.
Symptoms of AMD
Early signs of AMD include:
- Blurry or fuzzy vision
- Difficulty recognising familiar faces
- Straight lines appearing wavy
- A dark, empty area or blind spot appearing in the centre of vision
- Loss of central vision, which is necessary for driving, reading, recognising faces and performing close-up work.
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