Researches found that new experimental drug designed to fight advanced age – related macular degeneration (AMD) shows promise. AMD is a condition that causes vision loss of older people, it is age –related disease and it appears when blood vessels in retina are overgrowed. It can lead to vision loss and sometimes even to blindness.

Scientists found during tests on mice that enodstatin reduced and almost stopped the abnormal growth of blood vessels within the eyes. Endostatin is a fragment of collagen 18 found in blood vessels. It has ability to stop process of making new blood vessels which are necessary for tumor development.

During the research. scientists simulated AMD in mice. One group of mice had endostatin removed previously by scientists and this group was three times more likely to develop AMD than the other group which naturally produced endostatin. Then, researchers gave endostatin to all mice and the group that had lacked endostatin reduced the amount of abnormal blood vessels to normal levels and within the group that had naturally produced endostatin abnormal growth of blood vessels could no longer be found.

This research is of great importance since it gives hope for those who are at great risk for possibly developing blindness.