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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
National Eye Institute Says Massive Study will
Evaluate Antioxidants, Fish Oil Effect on AMD
100 study centers seek 4,000 people – age 50 and 85
- with AMD in both eyes, or advanced AMD in one eye
 October 12, 2006 – Five years ago today a study was
released showing that high-dose antioxidant vitamins and minerals
(vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, zinc, and copper), taken by mouth,
reduced the risk of progression to advanced Age-related Macular
Degeneration by 25 percent, and the risk of moderate vision loss by 19
percent. Today, the National Institutes of Health announced a new
nationwide study to see if a modified combination of vitamins, minerals,
and fish oil can further slow the progression of AMD, the leading cause
of vision loss in the U.S. for people over age 60.
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This new study, called the Age-Related Eye Disease
Study 2 (AREDS2), will build upon results from the earlier Age-Related
Eye Disease Study (AREDS).
AREDS2 will refine the findings of the original
study by adding lutein and zeaxanthin (plant-derived yellow pigments
that accumulate in the macula, the small area responsible for central
vision near the center of the retina) and the omega-3 fatty acids DHA
and EPA (derived from fish and vegetable oils) to the study formulation.
The main study objective is to determine if these
nutrients will decrease a person's risk of progression to advanced AMD,
which often leads to vision loss. Previous observational studies have
suggested these nutrients may protect vision.
"Vision loss from AMD is an important public health
issue. This study may help us find a better way to treat this
devastating disease," said Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., director of the NIH.
About AMD
AMD damages the macula. As the disease progresses,
it blurs the patient's central vision. AMD can take two forms, wet and
dry. Wet AMD is caused by the abnormal growth of blood vessels under the
macula. This leads to rapid loss of central vision. Wet AMD is
considered to be advanced AMD and is more severe than the dry form. Dry
AMD, the more common form, occurs when the light-sensitive cells in the
macula slowly break down. Untreated dry AMD can progress into wet AMD.
Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., director of the
National Eye Institute (NEI) at NIH, said, "Nearly two million Americans
have vision loss from advanced AMD, and another seven million with AMD
are at substantial risk for vision loss. In the AREDS study, we found a
combination of vitamins and minerals that effectively slowed the
progression of AMD for some people.
"Now, we will conduct this more precisely-targeted
study to see if the new combination of nutrients can reduce AMD
progression even further. This study may help people at high risk for
advanced AMD maintain useful vision for a longer time."
Need Volunteers
Emily Y. Chew, M.D., study chair and deputy
director of the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the
NEI said, "The AREDS2 study is seeking 4,000 people between 50 and 85
years of age with AMD in both eyes, or advanced AMD in one eye. They
must be available for yearly eye examinations for at least five years.
"Until we get the results from AREDS2, we encourage
people with AMD to visit their eye care professional to see if they need
to take the AREDS vitamin and mineral formulation. This alone could save
more than 300,000 people from vision loss over the next five years."
For a list of study centers, eligibility
requirements, and other information, go to:
http://www.nei.nih.gov/AREDS2, or call 1-877-AREDS-80
(1-877-273-3780).
Editor's Notes:
The National Eye Institute (NEI) is part
of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is the Federal
government's lead agency for vision research that leads to sight-saving
treatments and plays a key role in reducing visual impairment and
blindness. For more information, visit the NEI Website at
http://www.nei.nih.gov/.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -
The Nation's Medical Research Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human
Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting
basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and it investigates
the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For
more information about NIH and its programs, visit
http://www.nih.gov/.
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