According to the Center for Disease Control, Glaucoma is twice as common among the older black population as it is among the older white population... It has doubled among older African Americans since the 1980's. Age-related macular degeneration is more common in women than men.

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The findings by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine suggests that folic acid and vitamin B12 may limit the severity of symptoms that afflict SMA (spinal atrophy) patients. "We are not suggesting that this is a cure, but it may help," said Gideon Dreyfuss, Ph.D., Issac Norris, Professor of Biochemistry and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at Pen, and principal author of the study.

SMA affects one out of every 6,000 to 10,000 people and is the leading genetic killer of children under the age of two. The symptoms include muscle weakness and wasting and range from mild to sever, a reaction scientists are unable to explain. Though most die in infancy, others do not become wheelchair bound before age 20, and some can live a fairly normal lifespan.

Until recently, this variability in patients has been attributed to "genetic modifiers" but this new study indicates the possibility that it is influenced by nutritional factors. Persons with SMA have a genetic deficiency in a protein cell called SMN (survival of motor neurons), which is a "housekeeping" protein required by all cells. This is especially true for motor neurons, the nerve cells that control the activity of muscles.

When the levels of the SMN protein are too low, motor neurons are the first cells to breakdown, in turn leaving the major muscle groups without the stimulation they need to be viable. To perform its function, SMN interacts with numerous proteins in the cell, helping them create some of the molecular function that makes messenger RNA and myriad protein cells. In his research, Dr. Dreyfuss and his associates, have been studying what makes SMN interact with its partner cell. Since SMA patients are already compromised in their levels of SMN, they might be more expected to be more severely afflicted by theses nutritional deficits.

"We would like to say, very cautiously, that our work raises the possibility that folic acid and vitamin B12 may be helpful in lessening, even if only slightly, the severity of the disease for some SMA patients -- or at least ensure that their condition is not worse than the genetics dictate," said Dr. Dreyfuss.