Vitamin D may stop age-related vision loss
Warding off vision loss for women could be as simple as looking to the kitchen.
A new study found that women who consumed higher levels of vitamin D through supplements or eating vitamin D rich food had a lower risk from age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
AMD is a serious eye condition that progressively damages the centre of the retina and the back of the eye. It is the leading cause of vision loss for over-50s in developing countries, including Australia.
As AMD is more common in women than men (although scientist still do not know the reason for this), the study surveyed 1,313 women. They found when women under the age of 75 who consumed vitamin D food sources were at reduced risk of early AMD. Women who had the highest intake of vitamin D were 59 per cent less likely to develop AMD compared to those on vitamin D-poor diets. The researchers noted the risk was the lowest when participants consumed 720 international units of vitamin D per day through foods such as cold-water fish, eggs, and dairy. That’s a small can of tuna, for example.
Although vitamin D is best known as coming from the sun, the study only found success when vitamin D was consumed via food or supplements, not how much time you spend outdoors.
While the study offers one more reason for women to include vitamin-D rich food in their diet, researchers still need to further study the relationship.
“More studies are needed to verify this association as well as to better understand the potential interaction between vitamin D status and genetic and lifestyle factors with respect to risk of early AMD,” said lead scientists, Dr Amy Millen, from Buffalo University in New York.