Eat Fish to Decrease AMD Risk

Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a common cause of vision loss in seniors. Seniors and others at risk for Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) may want to eat certain fish as a way of helping to decrease their risk of developing this eye disease. Recently, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that the disease may be associated with a high dietary fat intake. The results of their study found that eating fish, such as tuna, four times a week, may reduce the risk of macular degeneration. The subjects of the study were participants in the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study who did not have AMD when the study commenced. After 12 years of follow-up, 567 people with a visual loss of 20/30 or worse were identified. Fat intake was assessed with a food frequency questionnaire. 

The study found:

·  Those patients whose total dietary fat intake was in the highest quintile had over one and
         a half times the risk of AMD as those whose fat intake was in the lowest quintile,

·  Linolenic acid consumption was directly associated with the risk of AMD,

·  High intake of docosahexaenoic acid was associated with a modest reduction in the risk of AMD.

·  Those who ate four or more servings of fish a week were at a 35% lower risk of AMD
         when compared to those who ate fewer than three servings of fish a week.

The researchers concluded that dietary fat intake was associated with an increased risk of age related macular degeneration (AMD) and that this may have been due to the presence of Linolenic acid in the fat. They added that a high intake of fish such as tuna, a rich source of docosahexaenoic acid, may reduce this risk.

If you or someone you know would like to learn more about how eating fish can decrease your risk of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), please feel free to call Center for Sight at 508-730-2020, visit center-for-sight.com or facebook.com/centerforsightfallriver to schedule an appointment.

Center for Sight is conveniently located at 1565 North Main Street, Suite 406, Fall River, Massachusetts 02720 for patients from Massachusetts or Rhode Island.