THE HOMING TRIAL: A RETROSPECTIVE PILOT STUDY ON THE EFFICACY OF PERSONALIZED BIOIDENTICAL HORMONE, DIETARY SUPPLEMENT AND NUTRITION CARE PLANS FOR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (AMD)

The objective of the Hormones, Oxidative stress, Methylation, Inflammation and Gene expression (HOMING) trial was to assess the efficacy of personalized bio identical hormone, dietary supplement and nutritional care plans on dry and wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) outcomes. We evaluated 220 Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) patients that followed a personalized clinical care plan for up to 9 months. The care plans consisted of bio identical hormones, dietary supplements and nutrition recommendations with the objective to improve lab and clinical measurements linked to oxidative stress, inflammation and gene expression. Serum concentrations of CRP, HbA1c and homocysteine responded favorably to the HOMING protocol with full program compliance. Sixty percent (42/70) of wet AMD patients reported improvement in visual acuity and/or a reduction in the frequency of anti-VEGF injections during the study period. Forty eight percent (44/92) of dry AMD patients reported improvement in visual acuity during the study period. Nine percent (4/45) patients reported improvement in visual acuity in the dry AMD control group and no (0/13) wet AMD patients in the control group reported improvement. Six percent (4/70) of wet AMD patients reported that their vision declined and/or that their F frequency increased during the study period. Five percent (4/92) of dry AMD patients reported that their vision was worse. Keywords: Bio identical Hormones, Oxidative stress, Methylation, Inflammation, Gene Expression, Nutrition and AMD.