results would not hold true in a similar group of men . Christen and his colleagues examined the role of vitamins B6 and B12 and folic acid in AMD partly because previous studies have shown these vitamins are known to lower levels of homocysteine , an amino acid found in the blood that when elevated has been associated with higher risks of AMD . The 5,442 women who participated in the randomized , double-blind clinical trial already had heart disease or at least three risk factors for cardiovascular disease . The majority of them did not have AMD at the start of the study , which lasted more than 7 years . Christen explains that the underlying mechanism of AMD likely involves the vascular system , and researchers widely believe that cardiovascular disease and AMD share common risk factors . Age-related macular degeneration is a vision disease common among people older than 60 , involving the deterioration of tissues in the macula , the central part of the retina . The condition impedes the performance of critical everyday functions such as reading and driving because it affects the ability to see items that a person is looking at directly ,
Researchers may be getting closer to an effective way of preventing age-related macular degeneration , one of the leading causes of vision loss among older Americans . A new study found that vitamins B6 , B12 and folic acid may help prevent age-related macular degeneration . A new study finds that women who took a combination of B6 and B12 vitamins along with a folic acid supplement had lower risks of developing age-related macular degeneration . The women who got the supplements , compared with those taking a placebo , had a 34 percent lower risk of developing any form of AMD , and a 41 percent lower risk of more severe forms of AMD . Epidemiologist and study author William G. Christen , Sc.D. , of Brigham and Women 's Hospital and Harvard Medical School , expects that if these findings are successfully replicated in future studies , `` the combination of these vitamins might become the first prevention method of early stages of age-related macular degeneration other than avoiding cigarette smoking . '' Christen also noted that although the study was conducted among women age 40 and older , there is no particular reason to believe the same