March
3, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- Taking supplements with vitamins B6, B12 and
folic acid helps reduce risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in
women, according to a study reported in the Feb 23, 2009 issue of Archives of
Internal Medicine.
The
study led by William G. Christen, Sc.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital and
Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues showed women taking these
vitamins were 34 percent less likely to develop AMD and 41 percent less likely
to develop visually significant AMD than those who did not take these vitamins.
The
study involved 5205 women age 40 or older who were at high risk of heart
disease, but did not have AMD when entering the study. They were randomly
assigned vitamins or placebo for an average of 7.3 years. 2,607 women were
treated with vitamins while 2,598 women received a placebo.
The
vitamin treatment included 2.5 mg per day of folic acid, 50 mg per day of
pyridoxine hydrochloride or vitamin B6 and 1 mg per day of cyanocobalamin or
vitamin B12.
During
the follow-up, 137 cases of AMD were recorded including 70 cases of visually
significant AMD.
Fifty five AMD cases
including 26 severe cases were found in the treatment group while 55 AMD cases
including 44 severe cases were found in the placebo group.
Women
taking the vitamin supplements were at a 34 percent lower risk of any AMD and
at a 41 percent lower risk of visually significant AMD compared to those who
did not receive the vitamins.
"The
beneficial effect of treatment began to emerge at approximately two years of
follow-up and persisted throughout the trial," the authors state in their
report.
Age-related
macular degeneration is a common cause of vision loss in elderly people.
Doctors do not know how to effectively prevent the disease although some
treatments are available for severe AMD.
Previous
studies have shown that vitamin B6, B12 and folic acid lower the levels of
homocysteine which is associated with dysfunction of the blood vessel
lining.
These vitamins are believed to
be able to reverse the blood vessel dysfunction.
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