Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of legal blindness in the Western World for people over the age of 55, according to the Toronto-based awareness group AMD Alliance International. As life expectancies have grown, AMD has become more prevalent, with one-third of the population over the age of 80 now being affected by AMD to varying degrees.
In Australia, AMD is the cause of blindness for over 80% of people aged at least 50 who fit the legal definition of blindness in that country (defined as being able to see at 6 metres what people with ‘normal’ vision can see at 60 metres). Scientists there have just completed a large, population-based cohort study, with corresponding results revealing that higher intakes of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin can reduce the risk of AMD by 65%.
The study, entitled "Dietary Antioxidants and the Long-term Incidence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration: The Blue Mountains Eye Study" (Ophthalmology Feb.2008, Vol. 115, Issue 2, Pg. 334-341) was conducted by the Universities of Sydney and Newcastle and involved 3654 subjects spanning 10 years. The subjects’ dietary and nutritional intakes from food and supplements were monitored and calculated in correlation to the development of AMD. The intake of a variety of nutrients was measured, and those with the highest average intakes of the carotenoids zeaxanthin and lutein had a 65 percent reduced risk of neo-vascular AMD compared to those with the lowest average intakes.
This study corresponds neatly with the findings of another recent study out of Ireland published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Mar. 2008, Vol. 87, Number 3, P. 712-722."Diet and risk factors for age-related maculopathy" S. Beatty, et al.). This study, involving 828 healthy subjects between the ages of 20 and 60, while not directly examining the effects zeaxanthin supplementation on vision health, found an inverse relationship between zeaxanthin intake and age. The authors wrote that their study "simply observed that dietary intake of zeaxanthin decreases with increasing age (which is, obviously, the most important risk-factor for ARM [Age-Related Maculopathy]*)" and that this finding “warrants further investigation". They concluded with “In other words, perhaps people should take zeaxanthin supplements as they get older”.
*Maculopathy refers to any disorder of the macula- including AMD.
For more information, see Lutein and Vision Support
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