“See Food” Diet May Prevent Age-Related Blindness
Filed under Environmental News
Natural News
S. L. Baker
Monday, August 17, 2009
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an often devastating disorder associated with growing older that gradually destroys a person’s ability to see the center of the visual field) due to retinal damage. The resulting vision loss can rob elders of the ability to read, drive or recognize the faces of loved ones. According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), about 10 percent of people between the ages of 65 and 74 develop some degree of AMD and the risk of macular degeneration soars to nearly 30 percent for those 75 and older. A leading cause of blindness in the US, AMD affects more than 1.75 million Americans. And the National Institutes of Health (NIH) warns that as the population ages, almost three million people in the US could suffer from AMD by 2020.
But just because the vision-destroying problem is age-related does not mean it has to be inevitable for large numbers of people as they age. Scientists have previously discovered that specific nutrients and healthy living strategies (including regular exercise and not smoking) may slow down the progression of macular degeneration. Now new research just published in the American Journal of Pathology indicates a “see food” diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids found abundantly in cold water fish like salmon may actually prevent AMD and the blindness it causes.
The NEI’s Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), which ended in 2005, already established that non-drug and non-surgical approaches — specifically, sufficiently high levels of antioxidants and zinc — can greatly reduce the risk of advanced AMD and the vision loss associated with macular degeneration. Because evidence has been building that omega-3 fatty acids protect against a variety of diseases, including atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease, NEI scientists decided to study what impact these “good” fats found in fish and flaxseed oil might have on the eyes. Full article here…
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