A new study has confirmed earlier reports that antioxidant supplements including Vitamin E can be beneficial for people with vision loss from age-related macular degeneration.
Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in people over 65 years of age. Earlier studies found that a mix of Vitamin E supplements, together with Vitamin C, beta carotene and zinc, can be effective against age-related macular degeneration.
Now the latest study, published in the medical journal Archives of Ophthalmology, examined the results of the earlier studies and determined that, by using the antioxidant supplements, many age-related macular degeneration sufferers might be able to avoid developing the advanced disease.
The new study, partially funded by Bausch and Lomb, said that 8 million people in the U.S. have age-related macular degeneration but haven't reached the advance stage of the disease. Researchers found that l.3 million of that number would develop advanced age-related macular degeneration within five years if the supplements were not used. But if the group used the antioxidant supplement treatment, more than 300,000 of the number could be saved from advanced age-related macular degeneration.
Meanwhile, Mount Sinai School of Medicine's health publication, Focus on Healthy Aging, also reported recently that research suggests that people with early signs of dry age-related macular degeneration can slow progression of the disease by taking the mix of Vitamin E, Vitamin C, beta carotene and zinc.