Crest study: Prevention rather than cure

The major causes of sight loss have a variety of risk factors. The most significant of these (age and genetic profile) are, as yet, uncontrollable. Understanding the influence of controllable risk factors has been a major focus of much research in recent years and, if there is to be a much needed shift to a longer term view of prevention of disease rather than treatment of presenting disease, this seems justifiable.

Background

Since the findings of the first Age Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS)¹ were first published, there has been significant interest in the role of nutrition and nutritional supplementation in reducing the progression of existing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), still the main cause of visual impairment in the over 65-year-old UK population. AREDS2² subsequently found that replacement of the potentially toxic beta-carotene with macular pigments (MPs – lutein and zeaxanthin) maintained a comparable benefit in reducing progression of existing disease. But one claim that is often heard but has had little evidence to back it up is the benefit of anti-oxidant supplementation to those with still healthy eyes.