Kreissig lecture reviews supplements, diet, genetic test evidence for AMD

[caption id="attachment_5486" align="alignnone" width="750"] Emily Chew, who delivered the Kreissig Lecture at the 16th EURETINA Congress, with Professor Ingrid Kreissig[/caption] Emily Chew, who delivered the Kreissig Lecture at the 16th EURETINA Congress, with Professor Ingrid Kreissig Strong evidence suggests that targeted nutritional supplements can slow progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in patients with bilateral intermediate disease and unilateral late disease, but have no effect for patients with earlier-stage AMD or a family history of the disease, according to a leading researcher for the American National Eye Institute (NEI). The massive Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 resulted in changes to the supplement formula recommended for AMD patients, replacing beta-carotene with lutein/zeaxanthin. This reduces the risk of lung cancer and improves efficacy compared with the original AREDS formula, said Emily Y Chew MD in her Ingrid Kreissig Lecture to the 16th EURETINA Congress in Copenhagen. Observational studies also suggest a diet rich in fish and leafy green vegetables may reduce the incidence of AMD and slow its progression. “I want to say, and this is very true, we are what we eat,” Dr Chew said. And while research through the international AMD Gene Consortium has made great progress in identifying AMD genotypes, so far no actionable differences in response to existing supplements have been identified, Dr Chew said. This makes the cost and risk of routine genetic testing hard to justify, she added. “We are not ready to change the recommendation from the American Academy of Ophthalmology task force that suggests avoiding genetic testing of AMD patients at least for now. We need further studies on this.” A full report on the Kreissig Lecture will be published in the October 2016 issue of EuroTimes