Vitamin D and Macular Degeneration

Researchers reporting in the April issue of Archives of Ophthalmology found that women younger than 75 who get sufficient vitamin D in their diets appear to have a reduced risk of Macular Degeneration, a leading cause of blindness. In the study, researchers say women under 75 who got the most vitamin D had a 59% decreased risk of developing Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) as compared to women with the lowest vitamin D intake. The research suggests that perhaps by using a common blood test called Serum 25 (OH) D it might be possible to identify those women at greater risk of developing AMD. Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in our aging population and affects some 8.5 million Americans over 40 years old.