Some well known antioxidants include compounds normally present in food such as, vitamin E, beta-carotene, the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, vitamin C, zinc, and selenium.
Apoptosis is common to all retinal degenerative diseases.
It is hoped that an understanding of apoptosis will lead to sight-saving therapies that prevent or delay photoreceptor cell death. When uncontrolled, angiogenesis can cause destruction in normal tissues due to leakage. Survival factors are naturally-occurring substances that promote the health of nerve cells such as photoreceptors. Axokine has delayed retinal degeneration in a variety of animal models with retinal degeneration. Approximately 20 percent of all families with RP have an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern.