Supplement found to slow sight loss

THE OLD joke about carrots being good for the eyesight because rabbits don’t wear glasses may just have been proved by academics from Queen’s University Belfast and Waterford Institute of Technology.

They have developed a new supplement containing carotenoids that has been shown to slow down sight loss in older people with age-related macular (AMD) degeneration.

Carotenoids are antioxidants found in carrots and other fruits and vegetables with red or orange colouring.

These antioxidants are also found in the macula of the eye, the central part of the retina.

Degeneration in this area causes blurring of central vision and is incurable. It is the leading cause of blindness in the western world.

The supplement, which also contains vitamins C, E and zinc, was tested in a study of over 400 people around Ireland who were suffering from early AMD. It was found to sharpen participants’ vision and slow down the development of late AMD.

Prof Usha Chakravarthy, from Queen’s Centre of Vision and Vascular Science presented the findings in Belfast yesterday with Dr Stephen Beatty, head of vision research at Waterford Institute of Technology.

They co-designed the study and the antioxidant supplement was developed with the advice of Prof Ian Young from the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen’s and scientists in eyecare companies Dr Mann Pharma and Bausch and Lomb.