Neovascularization/Neovascularisation: It doesn't ONLY cause CHD.

Another serendipitous moment.

From http://www.aao.org/theeyeshaveit/optic-fundus/retinal-neovascularization.cfm

After talking to someone with Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), I Googled the condition and spotted the word neovascularisation. This reminded me of Neovascularization of coronary tunica intima (DIT) is the cause of coronary atherosclerosis. Lipoproteins invade coronary intima via neovascularization from adventitial vasa vasorum, but not from the arterial lumen: a hypothesis.

So I did a search on PubMed for Neovascularization/Neovascularisation. This is what I got:-
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=%28%28%22neovascularization,%20pathologic%22[MeSH%20Terms]%20OR%20%28%22neovascularization%22[All%20Fields]%20AND%20%22pathologic%22[All%20Fields]%29%20OR%20%22pathologic%20neovascularization%22[All%20Fields]%20OR%20%22neovascularization%22[All%20Fields]%29%20OR%20%28%22neovascularization,%20pathologic%22[MeSH%20Terms]%20OR%20%28%22neovascularization%22[All%20Fields]%20AND%20%22pathologic%22[All%20Fields]%29%20OR%20%22pathologic%20neovascularization%22[All%20Fields]%20OR%20%22neovascularisation%22[All%20Fields]%29%29%20AND%20%28%28hasabstract[text]%20AND%20%22loattrfree%20full%20text%22[sb]%29%20AND%20%222009/09/14%22[PDAT]%20:%20%222014/09/12%22[PDAT]%20AND%20%22humans%22[MeSH%20Terms]%29%20AND%20%28hasabstract[text]%20AND%20%22loattrfree%20full%20text%22[sb]%29%20AND%20%222009/09/14%22[PDAT]%20:%20%222014/09/12%22[PDAT]%20AND%20%22humans%22[MeSH%20Terms]%20AND%20%28%28hasabstract[text]%20AND%20%22loattrfree%20full%20text%22[sb]%29%20AND%20%222009/09/14%22[PDAT]%20:%20%222014/09/12%22[PDAT]%20AND%20%22humans%22[MeSH%20Terms]%29%20AND%20%28%28hasabstract[text]%20AND%20%22loattrfree%20full%20text%22[sb]%29%20AND%20%222009/09/14%22[PDAT]%20:%20%222014/09/12%22[PDAT]%20AND%20%22humans%22[MeSH%20Terms]%29%20AND%20%28%28hasabstract[text]%20AND%20%22loattrfree%20full%20text%22[sb]%29%20AND%20%222009/09/14%22[PDat]%20:%20%222014/09/12%22[PDat]%20AND%20%22humans%22[MeSH%20Terms]%29

Even after restricting results, there were 5253 results. Wow!

It would appear that AMD has a lot in common with CHD. Ischaemia/Ischemia (lack of oxygen) to tissues causes the body to produce an adaptive response by growing new blood vessels (neovascularization/neovascularisation). Unfortunately, the new blood vessels are a bit crap, and cause other problems to develop e.g. CHD & AMD.

Therefore, prevention is better than cure. The things that lower the RR for CHD may also lower the RR for AMD. See Cholesterol And Coronary Heart Disease.