Randomized Trial of Beta-Carotene and Macular Degeneration

Launched by NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE (NEI) · Sep 23, 1999

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

Macular degeneration, a major cause of blindness in the United States, is the leading cause of new cases of blindness in people aged 65 and older. The National Eye Institute estimates that each year an additional 165,000 people, mainly in the older age groups, develop macular disease. Among all people with macular degeneration, approximately 116,000 are affected by the neovascular form of the disease. Although laser treatment is an effective treatment for patients with certain forms of neovascular membranes (exudative AMD), for most patients there is no available treatment.

The pathogenesi...

Gender

MALE

Eligibility criteria

• • When the Physicians Health Study was established in the early 1980s by the NHLBI to collect data on a stable population at risk for heart attack, only male physicians were studied because males were thought to be at higher risk than females for ischemic heart problems. The study population consists of 22,071 male U.S. physicians who were aged 40 to 84 years in 1982. The subjects have no history of myocardial infarction, cancer, kidney disease, renal disease, or any other contraindication to the use of aspirin or beta-carotene, including regular use of corticosteroids.