Fighting Macular Degeneration with Antioxidants

Research shows that antioxidants may lower the incidence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or at least slow the progression of the disease:

* Vitamin E was associated with a 13% reduced risk of AMD in a 12-year study of 22,000 male physicians.

* A study of patients with signs of AMD showed those who took zinc supplements had less visual loss from the disease compared to patients receiving a placebo.2

* In 1994, the Eye Disease Case Control Study indicated that dietary carotenoids, particularly lutein and zeaxanthin, slowed the progression of AMD. People who ate the most green leafy vegetables were 88 percent less likely to develop severe AMD than subjects who ate the least amount of green leafy vegetables.