The latest on AMD and eye health

It is estimated that about 6 million Americans suffer from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease that is the most common cause of irreversible blindness in people over 60 years old in developed countries, today. This number is predicted to double by the year 2030 as the number of baby boomers age.

There have been multiple studies through the years that have looked at what we can do to protect our eyes from Age-related macular Degeneration (AMD). Although researchers do not fully understand it, they do all agree that diet can help prevent it from occurring or worsening. The disease blurs or destroys sharp, central vision and there is no known cure.

The AREDS study, conducted by the National Eye Institute, followed 3,600 participants who had early AMD for 5 years . Researchers provided subjects who with supplements five to 13 times the recommended amounts of beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, and the minerals zinc and copper. After 5 years, those who took the supplements were found to have 25% less progression to late-stage AMD. Although researchers do not feel that this protocol will help PREVENT AMD, they do feel it can help decrease further progression of the disease. Consequently, the National Eye Institute now recommends what they call the “AREDS Formulation and Age-Related Macular Degeneration”. But don’t jump on the bandwagon, just yet!

In August, 2006, the National Eye Institute began a new study, called AREDS2. There are several purposes to this new study: First, researchers want to evaluate the effect that two omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, have on the progression to AMD. They have the same question about the effect that lutein and zeaxanthin, which accumulate in macula, have.

They also want to evaluate the effects of eliminating beta-carotene from the original AREDS ‘formulation’, as well as the effect of reducing zinc from the original ‘formulation’.

In the meantime, there have been other studies that have investigated the role diet plays in AMD. One large study investigated men and women at least 55 years old who had no AMD in either eye at the beginning of the study. After eight years, those whose diets ranked in the top half of the group for vitamins C, E, beta-carotene and zinc were 35% less likely to have developed AMD. Antioxidant ranges for this group averaged much lower than those in the AREDS study, but results were still quite impressive.

Finally, another important bit of information comes from more study results from the National Eye Institute and published in Science magazine. According to four studies, AMD appears to have a strong genetic potential. Researchers have each indentified a specific variant in the genome that increases a person’s risk of developing AMD by 3-7 times and that may explain 20-60% of all AMD cases in older adults.

Several other large studies also suggest that eating fish at least twice a week may substantially reduce AMD risk. Too much total fat consumption, however, particularly too much polyunsaturated fat, which is found in fish, may increase AMD risk. This fat’s chemical structure seems especially vulnerable to oxidation reactions that are thought to damage the eye. These questions may be answered in the AREDS2 trial.

So what is the lesson we can take from all of this?

A balanced diet with plenty of vegetables, sunglasses with UV protection and a hat to limit sunlight damage to your eyes are the best practices. If you wanted to get the amounts of vitamins C and E, beta-carotene and zinc linked with lower AMD without taking supplements, you should eat these particular foods each day as part of a balanced diet:

· Six or more servings of fruits and vegetables

· Three or more servings of whole grains

· Four to 6 ounces of meat poultry or seafood, or bean equivalent

· Five to 7 teaspoons of oils such as olive and canola, and about one ounce of nuts.

For those of you who have been listening to my Health News updates have heard this all before. So, this really is nothing new, but now you see another benefit for increasing those fruits, veggies and whole grains! Your eyesight may thank you for your care.

For more details about the AREDS study, click here.

To read the recommendations by the National Eye Institute for the AREDS Formulation, click here.
NOTE: Be sure to discuss this treatment protocol with your healthcare provider before beginning. Some people should not follow these recommendations.

For the abstract on the genetic link to AMD, click here.

For more on AMD, here are several links of interest:

http://www.webmd.com/hw/vision/hw176041.asp

http://www.amd.org/site/PageServer

http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/maculardegen/armd_facts.asp