Bethesda, MD.—Participants who ate more omega-3s were 30 percent less likely to develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a new study from the National Eye Institute (Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Oct 7.)
Researchers studied a cohort within the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS),a multicenter phase 3 clinical trial, to study progression to advanced AMD in 1,837 persons at moderate-to-high risk of this condition from November 1992 to December 2005. They obtained baseline data on omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) intake with a food-frequency questionnaire. Subjects who reported the highest LCPUFA intake (median: 0.11 percent of total energy intake) were 30 percent less likely than their peers to develop both central geographic atrophy, the “dry” AMD, and neovascular , the “wet” AMD. The respective odds ratios were 0.65 (95% CI: 0.45, 0.92; P 0.02) and 0.68 (95% CI: 0.49, 0.94; P 0.02).
The researchers concluded, “If these results are generalizable, they may guide the development of low-cost and easily implemented preventive interventions for progression to advanced AMD.”