Researchers at the Jean
Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University also
believe that the study, published in the journal PNAS, points to potential
biomarkers of AMD. These can be used to predict when a person is at risk for
this disease, which is the leading cause of vision loss in adults over the age
of 50. Using a mouse research model, the researchers observed that a
high–glycemic diet resulted in the development of many AMD features, including
loss of function of cells at the back of the eye called retinal pigmented
epithelial atrophy (RPE) and of the cells that capture light, called
photoreceptors-both of which are precursors to Dry AMD, whereas a low–glycemic
diet did not. Importantly, switching from a high–glycemic diet to a
low–glycemic diet arrested damage to the retina. The authors of the study suggested that these experimental results may
indicate that switching from a high–glycemic diet to a low–glycemic one is
beneficial to eye health in people that are heading towards developing AMD.
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