Research is being conducted concerning the effect of vitamins and minerals on eye diseases that specifically target the aging. One large study, The Age Related Eye Disease Study, or AREDS, tested the effect of daily doses of zinc and other antioxidants on preventing AMD, or age-related macular degeneration, giving participants fifteen milligrams of beta-carotene, five hundred milligrams of vitamin C

, and additional units of vitamin E. Those following a protocol which involved zinc consumption were also given copper to guard against a type of anemia caused by an excess of this mineral. In a separate study, the Lutein Antioxidant Supplementation Trial, researchers focused on the effects of Lutein on age-related eye problems. A Harvard University study, done in conjunction with the Schepens Eye Institute, explored the role that Zeaxanthin, one of the carotenoids, might play.

 

The study found that taking the specific formula of vitamins and minerals decreased the rate at which advanced AMD developed in those more prone to the disease by approximately twenty-five percent in a six year time. Researchers can not be sure if this beneficial effect will prevail over an even longer time. They will continue to monitor the AREDS study group to discover whether the formula will be beneficial to those with advanced AMD for more than a six year period.