Can nutritional supplements help treat AMD?

13 July 2018

Summer 2018

Radhika Holmstöm examines the case for antioxidant and vitamin supplements preventing, or slowing the progress of, AMD.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects more than 600,000 people in the UK, mostly those over the age of 50. It is estimated that one in every 200 people in the UK at 60 and one in five by the age of 90 are affected by the condition (Macular Society, 2017a).

Patients routinely ask for advice on the benefits of taking supplements. Despite some evidence that supplementation can slow the progress of AMD, NICE guidelines do not currently recommend it. Why is this, and what should you advise?

Login to read the rest of this article.

Sign in to continue

Related further reading

College calls for glaucoma care shift by fully unlocking safe and effective primary care capacity

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of irreversible sight loss in the UK and affects over one million people, which is predicted to rise by 100,000 cases to 1.145 million people by 2030*.

College responds to the publication of the Neighbourhood Health Framework for England

The government has progressed its commitment to moving more care from hospitals to communities.

College publishes first issue of Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics (OPO) with Springer Nature

The College of Optometrists has published its first issue of Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics (OPO), its flagship international and interdisciplinary research journal for contemporary vision science and optometry, with its new publishing partner Springer Nature this month.