May 22, 2007 – Foods High in Vitamin D and Omega-3s, Like Fish, May Prevent Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Two US Studies Find1.2. This eye disease, which causes gradual or rapid loss of central vision, is very common in people aged 50 and over.
Since 2001, American researchers from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group have been analyzing the results of a study carried out from 1992 to 1998 on more than 4,500 elderly subjects. The latest analysis they just published1 indicates that the higher the consumption of DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid found in seafood, the more the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration decreases.
The same study had previously concluded that the consumption of at least two weekly servings of 113 g of fish had the effect of reducing the number of cases of the disease. The researchers also report that arachidonic acid (AA), an omega-6, would rather have the opposite effect: it would contribute to the appearance of symptoms of macular degeneration.
Vitamin D
For their part, researchers from New Jersey analyzed data collected from 7,752 subjects between 1988 and 1994.2. According to their results, participants who consumed the most vitamin D-fortified milk had a lower risk (40%) of developing the moderate form of age-related macular degeneration, compared to those who drank the least.
The subjects who ate the most fish, richer in vitamin D, were better protected against the most serious form of this disease.
There is currently no way to prevent macular degeneration, which affects approximately 15 million North Americans.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
According to CBC.
1. Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group, The Relationship of Dietary Lipid Intake and Age-Related Macular Degeneration in a Case-Control Study, AREDS Report No. 20. Arch Ophthalmology, Flight. 125 No. 5, May 2007, 671-679.
2. Parekh N, Chappell RJ et al. Association Between Vitamin D and Age-Related Macular Degeneration in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988 Through 1994., Arch Ophthalmol, May 2007; 125: 661 – 669.