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This week on Healthwatch, we're talking about your eyes. The leading cause of blindness among the elderly is age-related macular degeneration. The macula is an area in the center of the retina where light is focused and changed into nerve signals to compose an image in the brain. Macular vision is used for tasks that require you to look straight ahead, such as driving, or for close-up, detail-oriented work.
Scientists knew that family history played a big role in predicting who would develop macular degeneration, but researchers at UT Southwestern recently pinpointed the gene that appears to be responsible when it's mutated. Robert Ritter, a UT Southwestern research scientist who was involved in the study, says this discovery provides an important starting point for more research into how vision deteriorates because of this genetic mutation.
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April 2005
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