A recently published epidemiological study showed that lifestyle factors can significantly reduce the risk of early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in women ages 55-74.  Those scoring highest on the Healthy Eating Index (which assesses how closely people stick to the federal dietary recommendations) had a 46% lowered risk of AMD compared to those scoring lowest.  As for physical activity, those exercising the most had a 54% lowered risk compared to those scoring lowest.  When these two factors were combined with not smoking risk was reduced by a whopping 71%.

A separately published paper on the same study reported that vitamin D intake was associated with a decreased rate of early AMD, but only in women less than 75 years old.

The studies drew participants from the Carotenoids in Age-Related Eye Disease Study, an offshoot study of the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study.

For abstracts of the recent articles in Archives of Ophthalmology, click here ^[1] and here ^[2].

Risa Schulman, PhD
Expert, Healthy Food and Dietary Supplement Science, Marketing and Regulatory
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