Age Related Macular Degeneration: How Different Fats Can Greatly Affect Your Vision
If you're over the age of 55 your high risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) - one of the most pervasive vision problems that affect us as we grow older - greatly increases.
As I've told you in previous e-Alerts, there are simple steps you can take to reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). And now a new study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology demonstrates how those who experience early symptoms of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can make dietary changes that may substantially reduce the risk of progressing to an advanced stage of the disease.
Piece of cake
Previous research has shown that an intake of certain types of fat may create an age-related macular degeneration (AMD) risk factor. So researchers at Harvard Medical School devised a dietary study in association with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
More than 260 participants over the age of 60 were recruited for the study, and each had been diagnosed with symptoms of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Using weekly food frequency questionnaires, the researchers followed the dietary habits of the subjects for an average of more than four and a half years.
At the end of the study period, the Harvard team found a clear association between higher levels of fat intake and an elevated risk of progression to advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This was especially so with vegetable fat, as opposed to a lesser degree with animal fat.
Processed baked products (containing saturated, monounsaturated,
polyunsaturated and transunsaturated fats) were singled out as the worst food type, creating twice the risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) when compared to those who rarely ate such foods.
In the plus column, the researchers found two foods that may reduce the risk of advancing age-related macular degeneration (AMD): nuts and fish. In their conclusion, the researchers wrote, 'Since advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is associated with visual loss and reduced quality of life, these preventive measures deserve additional research and greater emphasis.'
I'll have the fish
The news that a diet that includes fish may provide protection against age-related macular degeneration (AMD) development isn't news to long-time e-Alert readers.
For example, in a previous e-Alert I told you about an AREDS research project that examined the dietary information of more than 4,500 subjects at risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In that study, omega-3 fatty acid consumption through fish intake once or twice each week was shown to reduce the chances of developing 'wet AMD' (the most damaging type of the disease) by about one-third. Subjects who consumed more than two weekly fish servings cut their chances of wet AMD in half.
Coincidentally, in 2002, Dr William Campbell Douglass, quoted Dr Johanna Seddon, (who happens to be the lead author of the recent Harvard study) as saying, 'Eat fish, not fat. Eat fish two or more times a week.' Dr. Douglass also points out that the retina (the back of the inner surface of the eye chamber) contains large amounts of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), believed to be essential to good vision. And because fish is rich in DHA, the assumption is that eating fish will contribute to improved vision.
To provide some insurance against the risk of age-related vision disorders (and to keep from joining the millions who already have advanced stages of age-related macular degeneration (AMD)), you may do well to add a few servings of baked or broiled fish to your menu each week, and then try to reduce the intake of processed baked goods to zero. the mind as well as the body.
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