Back to Health Library

Supplements found to slow disease progression during late stage of ‘dry’ age-related macular degeneration

Key Takeaways

  • Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that taking a daily supplement containing antioxidant vitamins and minerals (AREDS2) slows progression of late-stage dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), potentially helping people with late-stage disease preserve their central vision.
  • The findings support the continued use of AREDS2 supplements by people with late dry AMD.

In a new analysis of data, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that taking a daily supplement containing antioxidant vitamins and minerals slows progression of late-stage dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), potentially helping people with late-stage disease preserve their central vision. Researchers reviewed the original retinal scans of participants in the Age-Related Eye Diseases Studies (AREDS and AREDS2) and found that for people with late-stage dry AMD, taking the antioxidant supplement slowed expansion of geographic atrophy regions, where retinal cells have wasted away and died leading to blind spots in vision, towards the central foveal region of the retina. 

While all regions of the retina are sensitive to light, the region that gives us the highest acuity central vision is called the fovea. Many people with dry AMD first develop geographic atrophy outside this foveal region, and they only lose their central vision when the geographic atrophy regions expand into the foveal area. 

The new study found that for those people who developed geographic atrophy in their central vision, the supplements had little benefit. But for the majority who developed geographic atrophy far from the fovea, the supplements slowed the rate of expansion towards the fovea by approximately 55% over an average of three years. The results were published in the journal Ophthalmology.

“We’ve known for a long time that AREDS2 supplements help slow the progression from intermediate to late AMD. Our analysis shows that taking AREDS2 supplements can also slow disease progression in people with late dry AMD,” said Tiarnan Keenan, M.D., Ph.D., of NIH’s National Eye Institute (NEI) and lead author of the study. “These findings support the continued use of AREDS2 supplements by people with late dry AMD.” “We plan to confirm these findings in a dedicated clinical trial in the near future,” he added.

Edited by Miriam Kaplan, PhD

Source:

National Eye Institute, Medical Xpress, July 16, 2024; see source article