AMD is a disorder of the macular, the central part of the retina, that makes vision less sharp and affects the ability to see straight ahead. There are two forms of the disease, dry and wet. The dry form is more common than the wet form and involves a more gradual loss of vision. In the early stage of the dry form of disease, someone will have several yellow deposits, called "drusen," on the macula. Intermediate AMD is marked by medium-sized drusen or one or more large drusen. And advanced AMD involves the breakdown of cells and tissue in the central retina. The "wet" form of AMD occurs when new blood vessels form behind the retina and start to grow toward the macula and leak or bleed into the eye.
Below, Lylas Mogk, MD, an ophthalmologist at the Visual Rehabilitation and Research Center in the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, discusses how dietary supplements may help improve eye health.
Do dietary supplements slow the progression of AMD?
We know from a very good National Eye Institute (NEI)-sponsored study, called the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), that a certain combination of nutritional supplements retards the progress of macular degeneration. In the 10-year study, the supplements slowed the progress of the disease by about 25 percent in people with intermediate AMD or AMD in one eye but not the other eye. The study did not show whether or not the supplements made a difference to people who don't have macular degeneration or who have early AMD. So you can't say, "You should definitely take these if you are at risk for macular degeneration." However, in my judgment, it only makes sense that antioxidant supplements, in moderate amounts, are likely to make a difference in terms of prevention. But I always explain to people that that is not proven, so that's their choice.
