University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center | 1000 Wall Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 | 734.763.8122
Copyright © Regents of the University of Michigan
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| Ask the Expert Vitamins & Your Vision  Many of our patients have been calling to ask about results from an ongoing study dealing with vitamins and vision. This project, funded by the National Eye Institute, goes by the formal name of “Age-Related Eye Disease Study” (AREDS). The AREDS physicians followed approximately 4700 patients at 11 centers around the country and recently published their five-year results.What they found was good news for patients who are at high risk for developing advanced macular degeneration. Scientists found that two groups of patients (those with intermediate-stage macular degeneration and those with advanced macular degeneration in one eye only) benefited from taking high levels of antioxidants and zinc. Patients with the intermediate stage of the disease reduced their risk of progressing to the advanced stage by 25% when they took these nutrients in a prescribed fashion. Patients who had either no disease or only an early form of the disease did not receive an apparent benefit. While vitamins cannot restore vision that has already been lost, delaying the progression of vision loss is an important step in our understanding of the natural history of macular degeneration and may help millions of patients retain useful vision. Patients who are interested in taking a combination of vitamins and nutrients to help slow the progression of macular degeneration should talk with their physician and ophthalmologist. Taking vitamins, particularly at the high dosages used in the AREDS study, can have some interactions with other medications or conditions and may possibly increase the risk of developing other medical problems. For example, beta-carotene has been shown to increase the risk of lung cancers among smokers. Vitamin supplementation is not a trivial matter and the preparations used by the study patients were prescribed at very specific levels: 500mg vitamin C, 400mg vitamin E, 15mg beta-carotene, 80mg zinc. Much research is under way for helping us understand and treat the various forms of macular degeneration. For example, one new therapy is aimed at stopping abnormal blood vessels from growing in the eyes of patients who have the “wet” form. In this particular clinical trial, patients have a chemical compound known as anti-VEGF injected into the back of the eye. (VEGF stands for Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor. It is a naturally occurring chemical that contributes to the growth of both normal and abnormal blood vessels.) It is hoped that the anti-VEGF will bind to the VEGF molecules in the retina and halt the growth of blood vessels in “wet” macular degeneration. This approach is being tested in a clinical trial at a limited number of medical centers around the country, including the Kellogg Eye Center. |
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University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center | 1000 Wall Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 | 734.763.8122
Copyright © Regents of the University of Michigan |