Adopting the Mediterranean diet, doing physical activity and discontinuing tobacco smoking are actions that help reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), an eye disease that is currently the leading cause of blindness in the Western world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The conclusion is from a study by José Paulo Andrade, a researcher at CINTESIS, entitled “Nutritional and Lifestyle Interventions for Age-Related Macular Degeneration: a Review”, published in the journal Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. The researcher has just presented the results of this work in the framework of the 2nd International Conference “Food for Healthy Ageing – Maintaining Health Throughout the Lifespan”, which took place from 23 to 25 October in the Netherlands.
“Current scientific evidence shows that patients with age-related macular degeneration should be advised to increase the consumption of green leafy vegetables, to eat fatty fish, and to follow the Mediterranean Food Standard, which also has benefits in other diseases,” says José Paulo Andrade.
According to this review article, to which Angela Carneiro from the Ophthalmology Service of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto / São João Hospital Center also contributed, the typical Western food, rich in fried food, salty snacks and red meat, may be associated with an increased risk of age-related macular degeneration.
On the contrary, says José Paulo Andrade, there is a lower risk of developing AMD in individuals who adopt the Mediterranean Diet, favoring the consumption of fruits, vegetables, bread, nuts, olive oil and fish. Besides preferring seasonal fresh products, this food standard also includes low to moderate consumption of dairy products and low consumption of red/processed meat. The use of vitamin supplements is not effective in preventing AMD.
On the other hand, the principal investigator of the research group NeuroGen – Neuronal Degeneration & Regeneration of CINTESIS also indicates that in patients with moderate to advanced AMD there is a benefit in vitamin supplementation but they should only use vitamin and mineral supplements that have already demonstrated their effectiveness in clinical trials (such as vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc and beta-carotene). Smokers or ex-smokers should be advised to avoid beta-carotene formulations, which should be replaced with lutein/zeaxanthin.
After reviewing several studies in this area, José Paulo Andrade warns that further studies are needed to support the use of other supplements in AMD, namely omega 3 fatty acids.
Finally, the specialist believes that the role of health professionals in patient education can and should be improved in order to reduce the prevalence of early AMD, reduce the number of cases of advanced AMD, and consequently, lower the high costs and growth associated with the treatment of this disease.
AMD is a degenerative disease that progressively affects the central retina (macula) and central vision, significantly affecting patients’ autonomy and quality of life. In Portugal, there are about 350 thousand patients with AMD. Every year about 45,000 new cases are diagnosed with the early form of the disease and about 5,000 with the late form of this pathology.