Antioxidants and Age-Related Macular Degeneration

AREDS Results

People at high risk for developing advanced stages of AMD lowered their risk of developing advanced AMD by about 25% with antioxidants and zinc. The risk of vision loss was lowered 19% in this group
The same high-risk patients taking zinc alone lowered their risk of developing advanced AMD by about 21%. The risk of vision loss was lowered by 11%
Supplementation did not provide any apparent benefit for those with either early AMD or no AMD

Beta carotene has been showed to increase the risk of lung cancer in smokers. It is not clear how long a person needs to have stopped smoking to eliminate this risk
Taking high levels of zinc may cause a copper deficiency
High zinc levels may be associated with genitourinary problems such as stress incontinence

	PreserVision AREDS softgels (2/day) or Ocuvite PreserVision/ICaps AREDS (4/day)	PreserVision Lutein GelCaps (2/day)	Ocular Nutrition (4/day)	Ocuvite with Lutein (1/day)	Centrum Silver (1/day)
Vitamin A	28,640 IU#	None	20,000 IU#	1,000 IU#	5000 IU+
Vitamin C	452 mg	452 mg	1200 mg	200 mg	60 mg
Vitamin E	400 IU	400 IU	440 IU	60 IU	45 IU
Zinc	69.6 mg	69.6 mg	60 mg	40 mg	15 mg
Copper	1.6 mg	1.6 mg	None	2 mg	2 mg
Lutein*	None	10 mg	10 mg	2 mg	0.25 mg

Information has been gathered from various websites/sources and is believed to be accurate. Many nutrients come in different forms with different potencies. See specific supplements for details
Given as beta carotene and converted for comparison purposes only (3 mg beta carotene equals about 5000 IU vitamin A)
20% as beta carotene
Lutein and zeaxanthin supplements were not available at the start of the AREDS study, so they were not included in the study. They are currently being evaluated as part of the AREDS-2 Study

For those patients at risk for advanced macular degeneration, we recommend Ocuvite PreserVision or I-Caps AREDS, 2 tablets, twice a day (4 total) OR PreserVision Gelcaps, 1 tablet, twice a day (2 total). While there are many other supplements available, the AREDS formulation is the only one used in a well-designed, randomized, long-term, placebo-controlled trial
If you have a smoking history or currently smoke, we suggest PreserVision Lutein Gelcaps, 1 tablet twice a day (2 total) to avoid the increased risk of lung cancer in smokers with high-dose beta carotene
If you already take Centrum Silver or another multivitamin, you should continue to take this as well
Patients on coumadin (warfarin) should notify their primary care doctor, and have their PT/INR checked within 1 week of starting these supplements due to the high-dose vitamin E
We recommend a cautious approach with herbs and other supplementation. Unlike Ocuvite PreserVision, these have not been subjected to rigorous randomized, controlled clinical trials. In addition, there can be great variability in different preparations. As of now, current evidence suggests that;
1. Ginko may slow damage
2. Bilberry has little evidence of any help
3. St. John's wort may be harmful due to phototoxicity

The Retina Center at Williamson Eye Institute