Two new studies suggest ways to reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration. A.M.D is the main cause of blindness in the elderly. It affects the macula, which is the part of the eye that allows one to see detail. This disease makes the vision less and less clear and eventually results in blindness.

A study carried out by researchers at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary has found that cigarette-smoking doubles the chances for A.M.D. The study and the findings are published in the Archives of Ophthalmology

Health officials in the country revealed Tuesday that some 100 Filipino children go blind every week because of poor nutrition, sickness or as a result of premature births.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque made the revelation that close to half a million people in the Philippines are blind and 62 percent of the cases are due to cataracts

Researchers say a recent study found diabetics who stuck to a low-fat, vegetarian diet lowered their blood sugar more, and lost more weight than their counterparts who followed the American Diabetes Association's diet.

The vegan diet cut out all animal products, including meat, fish, and dairy, and resulted it in a lowering of the blood sugar. The vegan diet was also low in added fat and sugar

Washington, DC (AHN)-According to a report published in Diabetes Care, a journal published by the American Diabetes Association, people who ate a low-fat vegan diet, cutting out all meat and dairy, lowered their blood sugar more and lost more weight than people on a standard American Diabetes Association diet.

Participants say the vegan diet was easier to follow than most because they did not measure portions or count calories, with just three of the vegan dieters dropping out of the study, compared to eight on the standard diet

A study by researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston has shown that women with type 2 diabetes apparently run an increased risk of developing glaucoma. The results of a 20-year study have been published in July's edition of the journal Ophthalmology.

Researchers analyzed the data from more than 76,000 participants in the Nurses' Health Study. All the women in the study were at least 40 years of age and free of glaucoma when the study began in 1980