Adapted from Children's Hospital Boston
Increasing intake of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, found in popular fish-oil supplements, may protect against blindness resulting from abnormal blood vessel growth in the eye, according to a study published online by the journal Nature Medicine on June 24, 2007. The study was done in mice, but a clinical trial at Children's Hospital Boston will soon begin testing the effects of omega-3 supplementation in premature babies, who are at risk for vision loss.
The researchers also speculate that omega-3 fatty acids may help reduce vision loss in people with "wet" age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease that also involves abnormal vessel growth. This possibility is now being explored in a large, NEI-funded clinical trial called AREDS2.
Omega-3 fatty acids like DHA and EPA are thought to dampen inflammation in the body. They are often lacking in Western diets; instead, omega-6 fatty acids predominate.
Aside from fish-oil supplements, the most widely available source of omega-3 fatty acids is coldwater oily fish (wild salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines). The compounds can also be made synthetically from algae or other non-fish sources.
Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Eye Institute, which provided funding for the study, said, "This study shows the benefit of dietary omega-3 fatty acids in protecting against the development and progression of retinal disease. It gives us a better understanding of the biological processes that lead to retinopathy and how to intervene to prevent or slow disease. It will be interesting to see if human clinical trials show similar beneficial effects."