They suspect that too much iron, known to wreak cumulative havoc on the body's organs, hastens normal aging of the eyes.
If they are correct, avoiding the most severe consequences of a disease that robs the central vision could be as simple as donating blood a couple times annually to reduce iron levels, said Dr. Vadivel Ganapathy, chairman of the MCG School of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Dr. Julian Nussbaum, a retinal specialist who chairs the School of Medicine's Department of Ophthalmology and co-directs MCG's Vision Discovery Institute, said: "If this is a predisposing risk for macular degeneration, we have a very useful tool for screening patients. We can give patients information right off the bat that may help them."
Source: ANI
