Canola oil causing poor eyesite.

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MACULAR DEGENERATION

5 June, 2006

Eye

condition linked to diet (original is here)

REPORTER: Coren

BROADCAST DATE: July 5, 2004

Macular degeneration is the most common cause of blindness

in Australia but new research suggests avoiding vegetable oils

could

prevent the condition.

It's spreading like a disease – a blindness called macular

degeneration affecting at least 800,000 Australians and costing

$1.5 billion per year in health care.

But with the latest research pointing to vegetable oils as the

main culprit, it's possible we may be able to fend off this

disease

by simply changing our diets.

You might not cook with vegetable or canola oil but take a look

at the ingredients in any sauce, dip, bread, margarine or biscuit

– any processed food for that matter. Vegetable oil is hidden

in all of them.

Most of us have been consuming these processed foods from the time

we could walk. Dr Beaumont from the macular degeneration

foundation

has been studying the link.

" [The research] showed that people eating vegetable oil got

the disease twice as commonly as the people who didn't, " Dr

Beaumont said.

" Even more convincing was a prospective study where they looked

at patients with the disease and those eating too much vegetable

oil progressed at 3.8 times the rate of those eating a little

vegetable

oil.

" You look at bread, they make it on margarine, you look at

currants and they've gone and sprayed vegetable oil on them to

stop

them from sticking, you go and try and get tinned fish and they've

put it in vegetable oil.

" So yes, it's become ubiquitous, it's crept right into our

food chain and you hardly know you're eating it. "

Gwen Oliver was diagnosed with macular degeneration two years ago.

She was astonished when Dr Beaumont told her to steer clear of

vegetable

oils and to only cook with extra virgin olive oil.

" I was surprised about diet and all the products that we've

been eating in the past, " Ms Oliver said. " We've always

had it advertised that vegetable oil was far better for us. "

The macular sits at the back of the eye. It's made up of many

different

nerve cells. The oils that you eat become part of your eye but

normally

they're used and flushed out.

When you're eating vegetable oils, researchers believe the eye

can't seem to biodegrade the oil and it ends up blocking the cells

and causing macular degeneration.

" In the 1920s and 30s they started to get big presses that

produced hundreds of tons of vegetable oil, " Dr Beaumont said.

" In 1957 margarine outsold butter so we've had this massive

infiltration of our food chain by vegetable oils. "

Dr Beaumont says he doesn't envisage vegetable oil being removed

from all foods, but says there should be a consumer health

warning.

" I think we have to have a warning on the packages similar

to a warning of a cigarette package: 'vegetable oil can lead to

macular degeneration', " he said.

The major reason for blindness in Australia 30 years ago was

diabetes

and it was rare to find macular degeneration.

Today the condition has overtaken diabetes five-fold and is now

the leading cause of loss of vision in Australia. Two-thirds of

those who lose their vision are blind due to macular degeneration.

" I've seen an exponential rise from the early 1970s through

to the 1990s, " Dr Beaumont said. " If we look at Japan

40 years ago the disease was rare, now it's common. "

" I don't think there's any doubt we have an epidemic. "

Dr Beaumont is horrified at the rate macular degeneration

has multiplied. He's seen a tenfold increase in the last 30 years.

" I think we could halve the number of people going blind with

macular degeneration if we could change their diet, cut out the

vegetable oil, " Dr Beaumont said.

When macular degeneration strikes, patients like Gwen Oliver are

first given laser therapy to help stem the bleeding. They're also

told to look at a chart daily and if they see any difference in

the lines on the charts – such as a straight line looking

bent – it's back to Dr Beaumont for treatment.

But for Jillian Price, laser therapy didn't work. Her last chance

is a cutting edge treatment called photodynamic therapy. It

doesn't

look like much but it causes plenty to happen inside the body.

" You inject a chemical that slowly accumulates in that blood

vessel and doesn't accumulate in normal tissues, " Dr Beaumont

said. " And then you shine a light on the eye and it selectively

activates that chemical that shuts down the abnormal tissue and

[does] not damage the normal. "

For Jillian Price, the disease has disabled her life as an active

woman.

" Two months is very fast to lose so much sight; I've lost

a lot of my independence, " Ms Price said. " The distance,

everything is distorted, getting on the buses, shopping is very

hard, I cant read labels any more. "

" One day I was doing crosswords and the next day I couldn't. "

A specialist told Colin Noble he'd be blind within 18 months.

Luckily

Colin sought a second opinion and today he's one of the lucky 10

per cent who regain vision after having photodynamic therapy.

Usually the treatment merely stops or slows down the degeneration.

" It's a miracle, I'm so grateful for this man, " Mr Noble

said. " It's had a big effect on my life and my family's life

… it's allowed me to do so many things. "

" I can still tie a fish hook, important things like that …

I'm a very lucky bloke. "

Dr Beaumont has lobbied the federal Health Department to help fund

this huge problem, but to date nothing has happened.

" I think they should move fairly urgently, " he said. " I

don't think we can afford to delay in informing the public about

something which can be affecting their vision. "

The federal Health Department is looking into this massive problem

but wouldn't tell us any more than that. As for the Australian

Food

and Grocery Council - the voice of the food manufacturers who use

vegetable oil - they had nothing to say, except that they were

waiting

to hear more evidence linking vegetable oil and macular

degeneration.

" There are hundreds of thousands of Australians waiting for

that advice, " Dr Beaumont said. " And I think the government

has to move quickly. "

For more information please contact the Macular Degeneration

Foundation

on 1800 111 709 or visit www.mdfoundation.com.au