Two Food Chemicals Help Prevent Adult Macular Degeneration

The right foods may help prevent this common and incapacitating form of Blindness:

Adult onset Macular Degeneration is the loss of neurons in the macula of the eye, which accounts for the majority of vision of the central visual field. AMD (Adult Macular Degeneration) has two forms - wet and dry. This devastating disease affects up to 1.2 million Americans; the wet form is considered to be a continuation of the dry form and is harder to treat. The causes are varied, including age, smoking, some genetic factors (especially the macular degeneration gene, involving the complement system), high blood pressure and high cholesterol among other factors. Much of the cause may be due to oxidative stress, part of the general theory of ageing.

There has been good news about Age Related Macular Degeneration: Earlier studies have shown that certain antioxidants help prevent AMD: In a large NIH study in the early 2000s, the following vitamins were shown to decrease AMD by 25% in a large population. The study was called AREDS and hence the vitamins associated with it are the AREDS vitamins and mineral: zinc, lutein, zeaxanthin and vitamins A, C and E. The dosages of vitamins necessary cannot be easily obtained in diet (see below) or in multivitamins. They could be obtained by carefully taking adjusted doses of individual vitamins.

A new study is open for enrolment (see NIH citation below) which will study the effects of omega 3 fatty acids and others.

Central to the program are the two food derived antioxidants which are plentiful in the eye: The two mentioned below are chemicals which give fruit, flowers and vegetables their yellow color. Lutein is concentrated in the macula per se and zeaxanthin in the peripheral part of the retina. Their mode of action in preventing AMD is unknown - whether by replenishing depleted pigments,acting as antioxidants or helping protect the macula from harmful UV radiation.

Now a study of the reported eating habits of over 6000 people have reported a significantly decreased rate of AMD in people who ate foods high in lutein and zeaxanthin. The best two foods were eggs and spinach. Other foods that were helpful included kale, turnip and collard greens, romaine lettuce, broccoli, corn, garden peas and Brussels sprouts. Please remember that food studies involving recall of habits are statistically less powerful than the classic double blind study. But they give us a beacon in the dark.