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AREDS formula recommended to prevent vision loss in patients at risk for AMD
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DANA POINT, Calif. – Exercise and diet have long been known for their positive effects on health, including eye health. Now a specific formulation of vitamins has been shown to help people who are at risk for age-related macular degeneration to prevent vision loss.
Allan J. Flach, MD, outlined some of the results of the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) in a presentation here at the Ocular Drug and Surgical Therapy Update meeting.
Dr. Flach said that AREDS report No. 8, published in 2001, suggested that certain patients might benefit from taking the supplement that was evaluated in AREDS. Patients over 55 years of age who have extensive intermediate sized drusen, at least one large druse and no central geographic atrophy in at least one eye, or advanced AMD or vision loss due to AMD in at least one eye, should consider taking the AREDS formula, Dr. Flach said.
The formula tested in AREDS contained 500 mg of vitamin C, 400 IU of vitamin E, 15 mg of beta carotene, 80 mg of zinc oxide and 2 mg of cupric oxide. To achieve the dietary equivalence of those nutrients would require consumption of huge quantities of food daily, which is not practical, Dr. Flach said.
In the United States, there are more than 8 million people 55 years or older who have intermediate AMD or monocular advanced AMD, Dr. Flach said. In 5 years, without treatment, 1.3 million of these people would develop advanced AMD. The AREDS formula could help prevent 329,000 of those people from developing advanced AMD and vision loss within those 5 years, he said.
Dr. Flach warned, however, that patients who smoke or have a history of smoking should not be encouraged to take the AREDS formula that contains vitamin C. Dr. Flach said even patients with a history of smoking should not be prescribed that formulation unless they stopped smoking more than 20 years ago.