The importance of omega-3 fatty acids, found in fatty fish and other foods, in heart disease prevention is well documented. Now new research suggests that eating oily fish can help slow or prevent age-related macular degeneration. Read what the experts have found.
The causes of both non-neovascular (also known as nonexudative, atrophic, or dry) and neovascular (also called exudative or wet) age-related macular degeneration are unknown, although there are known risk factors for both forms of the disease. Increasing age, farsightedness, cigarette smoking (and possibly exposure to secondhand smoke), a light-colored iris, obesity, and a family history of the disorder all raise the risk of both types. In addition, high blood pressure appears to be linked to a greater risk of neovascular age-related macular degeneration, as are high levels of C-reactive protein a marker of inflammation in the body.
Is there anything you can do to protect your eyes against age-related macular degeneration? Recent studies that appeared in the Archives of Ophthalmology (Volume 124, pages 981) points to fish oil as a potent anti-inflammatory, protecting high-risk individuals against age-related macular degeneration.
Eating oily fish like salmon, herring, tuna, and mackerel one to three times a week appears to cut the risk of age-related macular degeneration, according to two recent studies. In a study at the University of Sydney Eye Clinic in Australia, researchers followed nearly 3,000 men and women for five years. Those who ate fish once a week had a 40% reduced risk of early age-related macular degeneration compared with those who ate fish only once a month; those who ate fish three times a week had a reduced risk of late age-related macular degeneration.
In another study of almost 700 male twins by researchers at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School, those who ate fish at least twice a week lowered their risk of age-related macular degeneration by 45% compared with people who ate fish less than once a week. Researchers believe the protection stems from the omega-3 fatty acids that are plentiful in oily fish. Other studies have shown that omega-3s reduce inflammation that results from free radicals, molecules that damage healthy cells, including those in the retina.
