INTRODUCTION
Today, more than ever, ophthalmologists are being asked to answer patients' questions about vitamin supplements and nutrition. The importance of diet and eye health is not new. The need to obtain adequate vitamin A to prevent xerophthalmia and nightblindness, particularly where malnutrition is rampant, has been known for decades (reviewed by Underwood and Arthur1). More recently, interest has been directed at whether nutritional supplements might prevent loss of vision caused by degenerative conditions that become more common as we age, such as cataract and macular degeneration.
The benefits of nutritional supplements may have broad public health importance. Results of the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS)2 suggest that nutritional supplements may be one of the most promising means discovered, to date, of delaying end-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness among older people . . . [Full Text of this Article]
EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES
MULTIVITAMINS
Benefits to Eyes
Benefits to Overall Health
Risks
HIGH-DOSE ANTIOXIDANT SUPPLEMENTS
Benefits to Eyes
Benefits and Risks to Overall Health
ZINC
Benefits and Risks to Overall Health
How Much Zinc Should Be Taken?
LUTEIN AND ZEAXANTHIN
Possible Benefits to Eyes
Overall Benefits and Risks to Health
HERBALS
RECOMMENDATIONS
Prevention Against End-Stage AMD
Prevention Against Early ARM or Diabetic Retinopathy
Prevention of Age-Related Cataract
