Does dietary lutein and zeaxanthin increase the risk of age related macular degeneration?
Age related macular degeneration (AMD) was one of the five main causes of vision impairment in the combined study of the Melbourne Visual Impairment Project (MVIP) and the Blue Mountains Eye Study (BMES).1 A higher dietary intake of lutein/zeaxanthin was significantly associated with lower risk of having exudative age related macular degeneration in the Eye Disease Case-Control Study, but there was no association between lutein/zeaxanthin (LZ) intake and either early or neovascular age related maculopathy in the combined prospective US study.2,3 Also, a higher fish intake has been associated with a lower risk of progression to advanced AMD among those with low (below median) linoleic acid intake, whereas there was no significant association among those with higher linoleic acid intake.4 The aim of this paper is to examine the association of AMD with dietary intake of the carotenoids lutein/zeaxanthin in conjunction with linoleic acid intake in the follow up population based sample of t
