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How Does Lutein Help Fight Against Macular Degeneration? |
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How Does Lutein Help Fight Against Macular Degeneration?
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Darrell Miller | 08/19/11 |
Date:
August 19, 2011 01:11 PM
Author: Darrell Miller
(dm@vitanetonline.com)
Subject: How Does Lutein Help Fight Against Macular Degeneration?
Macular degeneration is a medical condition that affects older adults in most cases which results in a loss of sight or vision just in the center of the visual field due to damage of the retina. This is a very serious condition of the eye and it progresses over the years and in case left untreated may lead to further loss of sight. It has been found to be a major cause of older adults being visually impaired and usually age range is 50 years or older. Macular degeneration makes it hard or impossible to read or recognize faces, even though enough peripheral vision remains to make daily life activities remain doable.
Lutein from the Latin meaning of yellow, luteus, is a xanthophyll and is a naturally-occurring carotenoid. It is abundant in leafy vegetables which are green in color like spinach and kale. Lutein can also be found in egg yolks and is also present in plants as a fatty-acid tester and most of all, it can be found in the retina and concentrated in the macula, which is a small area of the retina mainly responsible for central vision. This helps the eyes to be protected from oxidative stress and blue light photons with high energy.
Eye Health
Several studies have found that an increase in macula pigmentation helps decreases the risk for eye diseases and one of them is Age-related Macular Degeneration(AMD). Some concluded that visual activity is improved with lutein supplementation alone or lutein together with other nutrients. Other studies also show that AMD seemed to be directly related to having low carotenoids in the body. It does follow in this 
case that increased green leafy vegetable consumption does help prevent the risk of AMD. Sufficient lutein intake indicates risk reduction for macular degeneration and this can be obtained from a proper diet, but considering that the daily focus of attention is for the lutein.
It commonly follows that this daily attention to the diet to get all the required lutein for our body is where supplementation suggestion comes in since many are not able to do so especially for people around the age group of 70 and up where the attention needed is just too taxing. And since failure to have sufficient lutein is not acceptable for these people with a high risk of AMD or those already with AMD but hopes to slow it down or even stop the progression of the decease, supplementation is a viable and reliable way to assure sufficient lutein intake. This would eventually lead to increases in blood serum levels that would be equal to a diet sufficient of high lutein foods.
However it’s worthy to note that risk reduction does not equate to a cure because once macular degeneration has started there is no way to reverse it. But reduction of risk may be an implication of prevention for some people. Further research needs to be done. However in terms of prevention before the decease starts, results have been promising.
