OMRF scientists researching if bad diet connects to vision loss

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Vision loss can be caused by a number of factors and aging is a primary one.

Two scientists at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, or OMRF, are zoning in on one area that can play a part and that’s the food you eat.

It’s no secret that vision loss is a part of aging, but the two scientists taking part of this research are looking into if your diet can leave you more susceptible to it.

"One of the ideas is that by keeping a better metabolism as we age, that it could stave off some of these age related changes that can leave us susceptible,” Professor in the Genes and Human Disease Program Willard “Bill” Freeman said.

Freeman and Ana Chucair Elliott are seeking to find out if a bad diet can lead to something called Age-related Macular Degeneration, or AMD. It involves permanent damage to the part of your retina that controls sharpness and color.

"That's something that we can do something about, that we can modify,” Chucair Elliott said. “It's basically changing to healthier habits, like not smoking and modulating our diet."

Roughly 11 million people in the U.S. have AMD. It’s the leading cause of vision loss in people over age 50. On the flip side, their research is also looking into if a ketogenic diet can help slow down or even stop the changes in cells that come before AMD sets in. Your future vision could potentially be helped with foods that are high in fat and low in carbs like broccoli, kale, meat, nuts, berries and cauliflower. All them can possibly change the outlook on a disease that isn’t deadly and doesn’t usually cause complete blindness, but can still really affect your life.

"If we could delay that, slow its progression, that's going to let people live fuller lives,” Freeman said.

The National Institutes of Health gave them a $2.5 million grant to help with the research. Freeman said that’s a big step forward to help expand it and do more studies.