Statins could help reverse blindness

Statins may reverse the most common cause of blindness, according to new research.

An estimated 20 million people worldwide suffer with dry age-related macular degeneration - known as dry AMD - a disease which causes blurred vision and eventually blindness.

Known as the ‘Alzheimer’s of the eye’ because of the way it robs elderly people of their sight, the condition affects a quarter of British over-60s.

Until now there have been very few treatments for the condition, but experts have discovered that statins - a cheap cholesterol drug already taken by millions - may provide a solution.

Scientists at Harvard Medical School in the US found that high-dose treatment with the statin Lipitor cleared away fatty deposits behind the retina, leading to visual improvement in ten patients with dry AMD.

They hope that future larger trials will show that the drug has the potential to halt progression and even reverse the disease in some cases.

Lead researcher Professor Joan Miller, chair of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, said: ‘We found that intensive doses of statins carry the potential for clearing up the lipid debris that can lead to vision impairment in a subset of patients with macular degeneration.

‘We hope that this promising preliminary clinical trial will be the foundation for an effective treatment for millions of patients afflicted with AMD.’

AMD, which affects more than 600,000 people in Britain, and 150 million people worldwide, is a progressive disease caused by the accumulation of fatty lipids and protein under the retina, the ‘camera’ at the back of the eye.

Over time, patients experience increasingly blurred vision or blindness emerging from the centre of the visual field.

There are two forms of AMD, known as wet and dry.

Of the two, the more common dry form accounts for 85 per of cases, is more difficult to treat, and lacks effective therapies.

Experts have suspected there may be a link between dry AMD and atherosclerosis, the narrowing of arteries by fatty deposits on blood vessel walls that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

Cholesterol-lowering statins are taken by millions of middle-aged and older people to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis.

Previous studies have shown little correlation between regular statin use and AMD improvement.

But Professor Miller’s team suspected a specific sub-group of patients may benefit from higher doses of the drugs than those typically prescribed.

Dr Demetrios Vavvas, from Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, who co-led the trial, said: ‘Not all cases of dry AMD are exactly the same, and our findings suggest that if statins are going to help, they will be most effective when prescribed at high dosages in patients with an accumulation of soft lipid material.

‘These data suggest that it may be possible to eventually have a treatment that not only arrests the disease but also reverses its damage and improves the visual acuity in some patients.’

Some 23 patients were recruited who had dry AMD marked by soft lipid deposits.

They were prescribed a high 80 milligram daily dose of atorvastatin, which is marketed under the brand name Lipitor.

Several generic versions of the drug were also used.

Of the group, ten patients experienced an elimination of the deposits under their retinas and a mild improvement in visual acuity.

Other techniques that have attempted to remove lipid deposits from patients with dry AMD have mostly failed and allowed the disease to progress.

The scientists, whose findings are published in the journal EBioMedicine [must credit], now plan to extend their research to a larger trial with many more patients.

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