Visibly Better Eyecare

It’s possible that diets heavy in red meat and fatty foods may help spur a leading cause of vision loss in older Americans, according to new research.

A recent study found that people who ate a more typical Western diet were three times more likely to develop late-stage age-related macular degeneration.

“What you eat seems to be important to your vision, and whether or not you have vision loss later in life,” said study lead author Amy Millen. She’s an associate professor in the department of epidemiology and environmental health at the University at Buffalo’s School of Public Health and Health Professions, in Buffalo, N.Y.

“People know that diet influences cardiovascular risk and the risk of obesity, but the public may not know that diet can affect vision loss,” Millen said.

Age-related macular degeneration occurs when a part of the eye called the macula is damaged. Sometimes this happens when deposits called drusen grow on the macula. Or it can occur when new blood vessels continue to form and leak blood, scarring the macula, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Genetics and smoking are known risk factors for age-related macular degeneration.

This study included almost 1,300 people from a nationally representative sample. Most did not have macular degeneration. There were 117 who had early AMD, and 27 had late.

All of the study participants completed surveys about their diets twice during the 18-year study.

The researchers sorted the foods into 29 categories to measure the quality of the diet.

They found that people who ate a more Western diet were much more likely to develop late-stage AMD. Foods linked to a higher risk included:

Red and processed meats
Fats, such as margarine and butter
High-fat dairy
Fried foods.

In short the observational study showed a diet high in fatty foods, processed meats and refined grains makes the more severe form of macular degeneration more likely.

It is not known if you can make up for a lifetime of eating poorly. But a healthy diet — full of vegetables, especially dark, leafy greens, and fruits and fatty fish — contains important nutrients for eye health, including lutein and zeaxanthin.

The study was published in the December issue of the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

To read the original article click here (Fatty diet linked to leading cause of vision loss in seniors)

The evidence is in and it shows that a poor diet plays a big role in the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in the US. A large collaboration of researchers from the EU investigated the connection between genes and lifestyle on the development of AMD has found that people who followed a Mediterranean diet cut their risk of late-stage AMD by 41% This research expanded on previous studies and suggests that such a diet is beneficial for everyone, whether you already have the disease or are at risk of developing it.

A Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating less meat and more fish, vegetables, fruits, legumes, unrefined grains, and olive oil. Previous research had linked it to a longer lifespan and a reduced incidence of heart disease and cognitive decline. Previous studies also showed following this diet can help with certain types of AMD, but only focused on different stages of the disease.

By combining this earlier research on AMD with the latest data, a clear picture emerges: Diet has the potential to prevent a blinding disease.

AMD is a degenerative eye disease. It causes loss of central vision, which is crucial for simple everyday activities, such as the ability to see faces, drive, read, and write. It’s a leading cause of vision loss among people age 50 and older, affecting 1.8 million Americans. By 2020, that number is expected to climb to nearly 3 million.

In this study, researchers analyzed food-frequency questionnaires from nearly 5,000 people who participated in two previous investigations — the Rotterdam Study, which evaluated disease risk in people age 55 and older, and the Alienor Study, which assessed the association between eye diseases and nutritional factors in people aged 73 and older. Patients in the Rotterdam study were examined and completed food questionnaires every five years over a 21-year period, while patients in the Alienor Study were seen every two years over a 4-year period. The researchers found that those who closely followed the diet were 41% less likely to develop AMD compared with those who did not follow the diet.

They also found that none of the individual components of a Mediterranean diet on their own — fish, fruit, vegetables, etc. — lowered the risk of AMD. Rather, it was the entire pattern of eating a nutrient-rich diet that significantly reduced the risk of late AMD.

There are two kinds of AMD — dry and wet. The dry type affects about 80 to 90 percent of people with AMD. In dry AMD, small white or yellowish deposits, called drusen, form on the retina, causing it to deteriorate over time. In the wet form, blood vessels grow under the retina and leak. While there is an effective treatment available for the wet type, there is no treatment available for dry AMD.

So remember you are what you eat!

To read the original article in its entirety, click here. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181001101940.htm

Category Archives: Nutrition

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