#AREDS 2 SIDE EFFECTS TRIAL#

#AREDS 2 SIDE EFFECTS TRIAL#

In the first five-year trial for the vitamin formulation that concluded in 2001, AREDS supplements reduced the risk of progression from intermediate to advanced AMD by about 25 percent, says Chew. AREDS Supplements Lower the Risk of AMD Progression by 25 Percent Research indicates that having a parent with AMD doubles your risk of eventually developing the disease. Those at risk for vision issues and adults 65 and older should visit their eye doctor annually.įamily history of eye disease puts a person in the “annual visit” category, per the AOA.ĪMD has a genetic component and so it’s important for people with a family history to be identified and checked out, says Chew. The American Optometric Association (AOA) recommends that adults between 40 and 65 years old get an eye exam every two years. “An eye exam by an ophthalmologist or optometrist is necessary to diagnose AMD that’s why regular comprehensive eye exams are a good idea,” she says. Even people who could benefit from the vitamins may not know they have the disease, says Chew. In the clinical trials of AREDS, there was no benefit found in people with early AMD, and the vitamins didn’t help prevent the disease in people who did not yet have AMD, according to the NEI.ĪMD can progress very slowly, and often people don’t notice vision loss for a long time. A person must have signs of macular degeneration, what we call intermediate AMD, for it to be beneficial,” Dr. “AREDS is to be given to patients who already have the disease to a certain extent. When AREDS Can HelpĪREDS is used for secondary prevention of AMD, says Emily Chew, MD, a senior investigator at the NEI and a researcher in the AREDS and AREDS2 clinical trials. The AREDS formulas have been shown to lower the risk that intermediate-stage AMD will progress to wet AMD, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. These new vessels are weak and can leak fluid, lipids, and blood into the retina (including the macula), which can cause scar tissue to form and the retinal cells to stop working. Wet AMD, which is an advanced stage of AMD, occurs when new blood vessels grow in the choroid layer behind the retina. Eventually, the macula may become thinner and stop working properly, leading to loss of central vision.Īlthough drusen alone don’t cause vision loss, when they grow in size or number, the risk of early or intermediate AMD increases. It’s estimated that between 80 and 90 percent of people have the dry type, which usually begins when tiny yellow deposits called drusen form under the retina. There are two kinds of age-related macular degeneration: dry AMD and wet AMD.

By the time people reach age 75, there’s a 1 in 3 chance they will develop the eye disease. How Age-Related Macular Degeneration ProgressesĪMD is one of the leading causes of vision loss in adults age 60 and older, according to the National Eye Institute (NEI). The supplements are named after the major clinical trials that assessed them, the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), which began in 1990, and the follow-on study AREDS2, which began in 2006. If you’ve been diagnosed with intermediate-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), your provider may suggest that you start taking a vitamin and mineral supplement called AREDS - or the more recent formulation, AREDS2 - to delay the progression of AMD.

Areds 2 side effects