Folic acid, B vitamins may reduce AMD risk in some women

Following a USA Today story, Nicholas Bakalar writes in the New York Times Vital Signs column that, according to a study published Feb. 23 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, vitamin B supplements may reduce the risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), at least in women with cardiovascular disease or at risk for it.

For the study, researchers from Harvard University followed 5,205 female healthcare professionals with cardiovascular disease or three or more risk factors for it, who were randomly assigned to take either a placebo or a combination of folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12. After about seven years of follow-up, the investigators found 55 cases of AMD in the treatment group, and 82 among those who took a placebo. Specifically, the authors found that those who took the vitamins had a 41 percent reduced risk for significant degeneration, and theorized that the vitamins may reduce blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine, which has been implicated in vision loss.

Posted in: Macular Degeneration, Vitamins