Fight for Sight comments on new research indicating that vitamin D supplements may help prevent loss of vision and blindness

 Media Contact: Lizzie Webster
Telephone: 0207 264 3904
Email address: lizzie@fightforsight.org.uk

Commenting on research carried out by Professor Glen Jeffery at the Institute of Ophthalmology, co-funded by the Rosetrees Trust through Fight for Sight and the Biological Sciences Research Council, which has found that vitamin D supplements may help prevent loss of vision and blindness in older female mice, Dr Dolores Conroy, Director of Research at Fight for Sight said: “In previous studies, vitamin D has been shown to protect against the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in women.

“Existing research suggests that vitamin D modulates the immune system and may help in the prevention of diseases associated with inflammation, such as AMD. However, further studies are needed to confirm if vitamin D supplements could provide a way to combat age-related eye diseases, including AMD, in people.”

The paper, 'Vitamin D rejuvenates aging eyes by reducing inflammation, clearing amyloid beta and improving visual function' by Lee V, Rekhi E, Kam JH, Jeffery G. is available online at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22217419

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Notes to Editors:

1. For more information, please contact Lizzie Webster, Media and Communications Officer at Fight for Sight on 0207 264 3904 or at liize@fightforsight.org.uk
2. Fight for Sight is the leading UK charity dedicated to funding pioneering research to prevent sight loss and treat eye disease.
3. Fight for Sight is funding research at leading universities and hospitals throughout the UK. Major achievements to date include:
• saving the sight of thousands of premature babies through understanding and controlling levels of oxygen delivery
• restoring sight by establishing the UK Corneal Transplant Service enabling over 48,000 corneal transplants to take place
• providing the funding for the research leading to the world’s first clinical trial for choroideremia
• bringing hope to children with inherited eye disease by helping to fund the team responsible for the world’s first gene therapy clinical trial
• identifying new genes responsible for keratoconus and Nance-Horan syndrome
4. Fight for Sight’s current research programme is focusing on preventing and treating age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and cataract. We are also funding research into the causes of childhood blindness and a large number of rare eye diseases.
5. Fight for Sight is committed to tackling inherited eye conditions including Stargardt’s disease. The charity is currently funding research into a gene replacement therapy for this disease led by Professor Robert MacLaren and his team at the University of Oxford.
6. Funding from Fight for Sight through the Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund have supported research into another inherited eye disease, choroideremia, at Imperial College London that has been vital in getting the first gene replacement trial for this condition underway.