Vitamins play a positive role in preserving eyesight - Home Study Program - Brief Article

AORN Journal,  August, 2002  

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Positive proof of the role dietary supplements, including vitamin E, play in preserving eyesight has been documented, according to a May 10, 2002, news release from the Mayo Clinic. In a new book titled Mayo Clinic on Vision and Eye Health, physicians document the successful use of vitamin E combined with other vitamins and minerals in lowering the risk of macular degeneration, a chronic disease that is the leading cause of vision loss in those 50 years of age and older.

The book details the Age-Related Eye Disease Study. Those participating in the study combined vitamin E with other vitamins and minerals, lowering their risk of macular degeneration 25% and their risk of vision loss due to macular degeneration 19%.

Vitamins E and C and other antioxidants help maintain healthy tissue and cells. These antioxidants combat free radicals when too many free radicals are present in the bloodstream. Through oxidation, free radicals damage normal cells. The process of oxidation is thought to play a role in the development of cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and a variety of other diseases.

Mayo Clinic Sees Vitamin E, Antioxidant Study as "Positive Proof" Supplements Help Eyesight (news release, Washington, DC: The Mayo Clinic, May 10, 2002) http:// www.media.prnewswire.com (accessed 13 May 2002).

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