Diets Rich In Omega 3-Fatty Acids May Reduce Risk Of AMD.

USA Today (12/2, Marcus) reports, “Eating more seafood rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as oysters, crabs and tuna, appears to slow advanced” age-related “macular degeneration (AMD), a common cause of age-related blindness,” according to a study published in the December issue of the journal Ophthalmology. “The findings are consistent with previous research suggesting omega-3 supplements and omega-rich diets protect vision in some people, says study author Bonnielin Swenor of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.”
MedPage Today (12/1, Neale) reported that in a study of 2,391 “Medicare beneficiaries living in Maryland, patients with advanced AMD were significantly less likely to eat at least one serving of seafood high in omega-3 fatty acids a week than healthy controls (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.8).”
According to WebMD (12/1, Hendrick), the investigators also “examined whether dietary zinc from crab and oyster consumption had an impact on advanced macular degeneration risk, but no significant relationship was found. Zinc also is considered protective against the disorder,” but one of the study authors speculated “that her study found no effect, because the zinc levels obtain from fish and seafood were low, compared to supplement levels.”
HealthDay (12/1, Mozes) quoted Anand Swaroop, PhD, chief of the neurobiology, neuro-degeneration, and repair laboratory at the US National Eye Institute, who “interpreted the findings with caution.” Swaroop stated, “I wouldn’t want people to start taking grams of omega-3 to protect against AMD based on this finding, because I’m not really sure that this study has sufficient power to draw any conclusions.” He called for “larger studies with longer term follow-up before being able to properly assess the impact.” The UK’s Daily Mail (12/2, Borland) also covers the story.