NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Taking vitamins E and C may do nothing to protect aging eyes from macular degeneration -- the leading cause of vision loss in older adults, a new clinical trial finds.

Researchers had been hoping the vitamins, both antioxidants, could shield against the tissue erosion that occurs in macular degeneration. The condition involves damage to the center of the retina, which makes it hard to see fine details.

Studies have found that people who get more antioxidants in their diet have a lower risk of macular degeneration. But that doesn't rule out other possible diet or lifestyle explanations behind the link.

And so far, clinical trials using vitamin E have come up empty.

ABSTRACT The mammalian eye consists of several layers of pigmented tissues that contain melanin. The eye is a unique organ for pigment cell research because one can isolate and compare melanosomes from different tissues and embryonic origins. Retinal, iris and ciliary pigment epithelial cells are derived from the neural ectoderm, more specifically from the extremity of the embryonic optical cup, which is also the origin of the retina. In contrast, the pigment-generating cells in the choroid and in the stroma of the iris and ciliary body, uveal melanocytes, are developed from the neural crest, the same origin as the melanocytes in skin and hair. This review examines the potential functions of ocular melanin in the human eye. Following a discussion of the role of melanins in the pigment epithelium and uveal melanocytes, three specific topics are explored in detail-photo-screening protective effects, biophysical and biochemical protective effects, and the biologic and photobiologic effects of the two main classes of melanins (generally found as mixtures in ocular melanosomes)- eumelanin and pheomelanin.

SAN FRANCISCO—A large European study, published in the January issue of the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, links daily aspirin use to increased risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

The study found that people aged 65 and older who took aspirin daily had double the risk of developing "wet" AMD (an advanced form of the disease that occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow and bleed or leak fluid into the macula), compared with those who took it less frequently. The study also found a somewhat elevated risk of early-stage AMD in daily aspirin users. No higher risk was found for advanced "dry" AMD. 

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is gaining a major foothold in the USA. Beginning last January 1st 2011, every day more than 10,000 Baby Boomers reached the age of 65.

Consider this...

Dr. Michael Tolentino, MD- Retina Specialist

I would like to preface this letter by saying that I have no financial, intellectual or emotional conflicts of interest with the science that I will be summarizing in this letter. My main motivation in writing this letter is not to sell or market vitamins, or tout my invention or even describe my own experimental work.  My main motivation is to summarize the evidence that points to the importance of Meso-Zeaxanthin as the critical nutrient for the protection of the macula from the corrosive effects of age and light induced oxidation(rust) which underlies the pathophysiology of age related macular degeneration the leading cause of visual impairment in our aging population.   In addition, it is my strong hopes that patients will take a pro-active interest in protecting against AMD starting with taking the one soft gel per day in the Macuhealth Formula or like ocular supplements.