From the future of medicine file comes promising research that could prevent age-related macular degeneration. Washington University St. Louis doctors discovered that adjusting the level of a component in our blood, called apolipoprotein M or ApoM, might help reduce harmful deposits of cholesterol seen in the eyes of AMD patients. ApoM helps clear harmful cholesterol from the body—in this case, the eyes. But that same anti-inflammatory quality may have other benefits, too, such as some forms of heart failure are also triggered by similar issues in cholesterol processing. Authors of the study in the journal Nature Communications say their work points the way to dealing with a major unmet medical need.