Study Says Vitamins Can Help Fight Macular Degeneration

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Hundreds of thousands of people could benefit from vitamin

supplements shown to help prevent macular degeneration, a

condition that is the leading cause of blindness from age 65, a study

says.

In 2001, researchers reported they had found a reduced risk of advanced

age-related macular degeneration and vision loss for test subjects who had

been given high-dose antioxidant supplements -- vitamins C, E and beta

carotene -- as well as zinc or zinc oxide.

In yesterday's report, researchers at the s Hopkins Medical Institutions

in Baltimore tried to estimate how many people in the United States would

benefit from increasing supplement use.

They concluded there are 8 million Americans at least 55 years old thought

to be at high risk for the problem. If all the people at risk took the

supplements used in the earlier study, more than 300,000 would avoid

advanced macular degeneration and any associated vision loss

during the next five years, said the study, published in the November issue

of the Archives of Opthalmology.