Macular degeneration – risk reduction
About one in 10 people over the age of 80 have macular degeneration sufficiently severe that their vision is badly affected.
The macula is the part of the retina at the back of the eye used for most vision. When the macula goes a person becomes functionally blind.
No one is sure what causes macular degeneration but what has been suspected for a long time is that the retina is being damaged by free radicals: by oxygen. There is evidence that antioxidants can slow the progress of early macular degeneration.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, following the health of 8,000 middle aged, middle class people in The Netherlands, has compared those who had developed macular degeneration to people who had not.
The people with the eye problem were more likely to be smokers and have high cholesterol. Allowing for that and vitamin supplements people were taking, those eating foods like fruit, whole grains, fish and vegetables – high in antioxidants – had a lower risk of macular degeneration.
