Fish oil saves vision
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DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish, has been shown to prevent age-related vision loss, according to recent medical research.
Yves Sauvé, a researcher in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta, and his team discovered that DHA prevented the accumulation of a toxic molecule at the back of the eyes, which normally builds up in the retina with age and causes vision loss.
Making a difference
“This discovery could result in a very broad therapeutic use,” says Sauvé, whose work was published in the peer-reviewed journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. “In normal ageing, this toxin increases twofold as we age. But in lab tests, there was no increase in this toxin whatsoever. This has never been demonstrated before - that supplementing the diet with DHA could make this kind of difference.”
The team recently started another study, looking at people who have age-related macular degeneration, a condition that results in loss of central vision and is the main cause of blindness in people over the age of 50. The researchers will look for DNA markers in the blood of study participants. The team wants to determine whether participants with certain genetic markers will respond better to increasing amounts of DHA in their diet, and if so, why.
