Eye Care

[Guest guest]

I have just come across a paper that we picked up when visiting our son in

Brisbane last year. I was doing a much needed paperwork clearance and this

article just jumped out at me.. Marianne

 

Vitamen Regimen Can Prevent Blindness

 

Carried out by Dr Paul Sieving at the National Eye Institute, USA.

 

The study involeved daily doses of tablets containing vit c, vit e, beta

carotene and zinc.

 

Macular degeneration is a leaing cause of blindness in people of 65 and

older. The finding suggest that if all 6 million Americans with intermediate

dis ease took antioxidants plus zinc over the next five years, about a

quarter of a million people who would have developed vision loss - won't -

said leading researcher Dr Frederick Ferris.

 

The supplements had no effect on people in the earliest stages but for thos

with intermediate dis ease, a daily vitamin supplement plus 80 mg of zinc

reduced the risk of developing advanced dis ease by about 25 percent compared

with a placebo. It also reduced the risk of vision loss by about 19 percent.

 

They found that zinc had no significant effect on cataracts.

 

Both studies are publish in the October issue of the Archives of

Opthalmology.

 

High doses of zinc can cause anemia but participants also took 2 mg of copper

daily to counteract the effects.