Thursday, February 14, 2013

Macular Degeneration Risk for Irish Descendants

“While we certainly know that there is a strong familial predisposition toward increased risk of macular degeneration, the new research demonstrating that Irish people are more genetically predisposed to develop age related macular degeneration (AMD) than other Caucasian populations is important,” commented Connecticut eye surgeon Leslie Doctor, M.D. of Doctor & Associates with Fairfield County offices in Norwalk, Westport & Wilton, CT.

The study conducted by the Department of Genetics at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital Research Foundation, evaluated blood samples from more than 200 patients with AMD and compared them with samples from participants without the disease to identify genetic risk factors. The study shows that Irish people are at an elevated risk of developing AMD. It is also known that smokers are four times more likely to suffer from the disease.

If you are over 50 years old or even earlier if you have a family history of AMD or are of Irish descent you should please schedule an appointment by calling Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visiting Doctor & Associates in Fairfield County or facebook.com/doctorandassociates.

Doctor & Associates is a leading Fairfield County Connecticut eye care practice providing eye examinations for adults and children, cataract surgery and intraocular lens implants (IOL), laser vision correction such as LASIK, diagnosis and treatment of cornea disease including cornea transplants, diagnosis and management of diseases of the retina including diabetes and age related macular degeneration and diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma as well as contact lenses, eyeglasses and optical services. For those patients in need of eye surgery, as a founding member of the Wilton Surgery Center, Doctor & Associates eye surgeons are able to provide eye surgery in a convenient, close to home and cost effective ambulatory surgery center.
Whatever your eye care, eye health or vision correction needs might be-Doctor & Associates can serve as a Connecticut ophthalmic consultant and will be conveniently located for patients from Fairfield County and southern Connecticut including Danbury, Stamford, Greenwich, Westport, Weston, Wilton, New Canaan, Norwalk, Fairfield, Bridgeport, Cannondale, Aspetuck, Redding, Trumbull, Shelton, Monroe, Darien, Glenbrook and Ridgefield Connecticut.