April 01, 2014
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AREDS2: More findings will come in a few years

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NEW YORK – Panelists here at Vision Expo East said much more information will be gleaned from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 in the future.

Jeffrey Gerson, OD, FAAO, led the discussion with Mark Dunbar, OD, FAAO, and Diana Shechtman, OD, FFAO. Gerson said the cohort of patients in AREDS2 was highly nourished and had better diets than the average American.

Jeffry Gerson 

Jeffrey Gerson

He believes the real story behind AREDS2 is that those with the lowest lutein and zeaxanthin levels would have displayed statistically significant results.

“What we’ve already heard about AREDS2 is just the tip of the iceberg,” Gerson said. “Once people cherry pick more, we’ll begin to understand even more about the study, but I believe we’re a few years away from that.”

Mark Dunbar 

Mark Dunbar

While AREDS2 concluded that omega-3s had no statistically significant effect on progression of age-related macular degeneration, Dunbar and Shechtman explained that there is no need to write off fish oil. They still prescribe it to patients often in cases of dry eye and meibomian gland dysfunction. – Abigail Sutton

Disclosures: Dunbar and Shechtman have no relevant disclosures. Gerson is a member of the ZeaVision advisory board.