Omega-3 Fats Again Shown to Benefit Eye Health

by | Aug 26, 2008 | 2008, DHA, Eye Health, Fish Oil Supplements, Macular Degeneration

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD is the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment and blindness in the U.S. (1) The condition causes vision loss in more than 200,000 people every year in the U.S (2) and is expected to increase to 3 million cases of vision loss over the next 20 years (3).

Despite the urgency of this condition, the actual cost of AMD is very elusive, with no current American cost estimates. A 2006 European study (4) showed significant variation in total costs, with the higher of the two costs suggesting each case of AMD costs the European healthcare system nearly 4,000 Euros per patient after adjustment for inflation in 2004 prices (5).

A recent study (6) has found that omega-3 fats may benefit eye health. A 2007 study (7) found that “supplementing omega-3 fatty acids intake may be of benefit in preventing [eye damage]”. Building on these findings, nearly 2,300 patients over 65 years of age participating in the EUREYE Study (8) had eye exams and completed a food frequency questionnaire (9). Researchers found that oily fish was consumed less than once per week by 64% of the study population, once per week by 25%, and twice per week or more by 12%. Those eating oily fish at least once per week had a 50% reduced risk of a type of AMD called neovascular AMD (NV-AMD), while those eating oily fish at least twice per week had a 58% reduced risk.

When looking at intake of DHA, an omega-3 fat in fish, those with the highest DHA intake (284.8 mg per day) had a 68% decreased risk of NV-AMD compared those with the lowest intakes of DHA (40.4 mg per day). When looking at the highest intake of  EPA, another omega-3 fat in fish, those with the highest intake (150 mg per day) had a 71% reduced compared with the lowest intake (14.6 mg per day).

For the researchers, “Eating oily fish at least once per week compared with less than once per week was associated with a [50% reduced risk]…for NV-AMD.”

Source: Augood, Cristina, Usha Chakravarthy, Ian Young, Jesus Vioque, Paulus TVM de Jong, Graham Bentham, Mati Rahu et al. “Oily fish consumption, dietary docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid intakes, and associations with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 88, no. 2 (2008): 398-406.

© 2008 American Society for Nutrition

Posted August 26, 2008.

References:

  1. National Advisory Eye Council. Vision Research—A National Plan: 1999-2003, Vol. 1. A Report of the National Advisory Eye Council. Bethesda, Md: National Institutes of Health; 1999. NIH publication 98-4120.
  2. National Institutes of Health National Eye Institute and Prevent Blindness America. Vision Problems in the US: Prevalence of Adult Vision Impairment and Age-Related Eye Disease in America. Schaumburg, Ill: Prevent Blindness America; 2002.
  3. Eye Disease Prevalence Research Group. Prevalence of age-related macular degeneration in the United States. Arch Ophthalmol. 2004;122:564-572.
  4. Ke KM. Economic Cost of Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Review of Recent Research Drugs Aging 2006; 23 (3): 217-225 1170-229X/06/0003-0217/$39.95/0.
  5. Bonastre J, Le Pen C, Soubrane G, et al. The burden of agerelated macular degeneration: results of a cohort study in two not only direct costs but also indirect and intangible French referral centres. Pharmacoeconomics 2003; 21 (3): costs. 181-90.
  6. Augood C.  Oily fish consumption, dietary docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid intakes, and associations with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.  Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Aug 2008; 88: 398 – 406.
  7. Connor KM.  Increased dietary intake of omega-3-polyunsaturated fatty acids reduces pathological retinal angiogenesis.  Nature Medicine 2007.  Published online: 24 June 2007; | doi:10.1038/nm1591.
  8. Augood C, Fletcher A, Bentham G, et al. Methods for a population-based study of the prevalence of and risk factors for age-related maculopathy and macular degeneration in elderly European populations: the EUREYE study. Ophthalmic Epidemiol 2004;11:117-29.
  9. Bingham SA, Welch AA, McTaggart A, et al. Nutritional methods in the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer in Norfolk. Public Health Nutr 2001;4:847-58.