December 10, 2018 - Macular Degeneration
Hey folks, it’s Dr. Sam I want to talk to you today about macular degeneration. I read a report recently which said that about 11 million people were diagnosed with macular degeneration last year and that number could double by the year 2050. Researchers also reported that macular degeneration was the leading cause of blindness for people over the age of 60.
So I want to point you to a landmark study. It’s called the AREDS study and was published in 2001 in the Archives of Ophthalmology (now known as JAMA Opthalmology). It was a study that was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
Researchers took over 3600 subjects between the years 1992 and 1998 and they offered them antioxidants and the trace mineral zinc. They monitored these subjects using retinal photography and concluded in 2001 that those who were taking these supplements reduced their risk of developing age-related macular degeneration by almost 25%.
There was a follow-up 5-year AREDS study, AREDS2 published in 2006. Researchers tweaked the ingredients that they used. They took out beta-carotene, which is a known-risk for smokers, and they added lutein and zeaxanthin. They reduced the dosage of zinc and they added omega 3 fatty acids. They concluded that these changes had a protective effect on the macula.
So, it’s very important to make sure you’re protecting your macula with an antioxidant-rich diet. This is important for everyone, but is particularly important if you have a