Vitamins, Health Supplements, Anti Aging Supplements: Life Extension Update

 

Long-term nutritional supplementation reduces progression of age-related macular degeneration

Tuesday, April 23, 2013. An article published online on April 10, 2013 in the journal Ophthalmology reports long-term benefit from supplementing with a nutritional formula containing antioxidants and zinc in men and women with age-related macular degeneration. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is characterized by the deterioration of the eye's macula, which results in impairment of central vision. Although there is currently no cure, a combination of beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, and zinc were associated with a reduction in the progression of the disease in a trial that concluded in 2001.

For the current investigation, Emily Y. Chew MD of the National Eye Institute and her associates evaluated data from 3,549 follow-up participants in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), which enrolled 4,757 men and women from 1992 through 1998. Subjects were placed into one of four AMD categories according to the extent of drusen in each eye, the presence of advanced disease, and visual acuity. Participants were divided to receive a placebo, antioxidant vitamins (beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E), zinc plus copper, or antioxidants plus zinc and copper until the trial's completion in 2001. The subjects were invited to participate in a follow-up study, during which annual eye examinations were conducted until November, 2005.