Vitamines goed voor de ogen*.

Een combinatie van Zink, vitamine C, E en beta-caroteen vertraagt de degeneratie van de macula bij ouderen.

Giving high-dose vitamin therapy to people suffering from the leading cause of age-related blindness could save money, as well as their sight, a Canadian researcher told attendees of the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology here. The condition, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), occurs when light-sensitive cells in the macula, the tissue at the center of the retina, break down. This can make it difficult to read, drive or perform other activities that require sharp vision. Ninety percent of AMD patients have so-called "dry" AMD. While there is currently no cure for dry AMD, a study published by the National Eye Institute last year showed that taking a combination of zinc, vitamins C and E and beta-carotene, may slow disease progression. Dr. Sanjay Sharma of Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, told that by his calculations, the vitamin therapy could save the US healthcare system $1.56 billion over the next 10 years if taken by patients with moderately advanced AMD. Sharma and colleagues used a number of decision analyses and cost-utility models to determine the cost of high-dose vitamin therapy for this patient population, as well as information from the Age-Related Eye Disease study. "We tried to look at it from the point of view of the insurers," Sharma said, in order to determine how expensive the treatment approach would be and whether or not insurers could be encouraged to reimburse patients for the cost. High-dose vitamin therapy for AMD "was thought to be an expensive approach." But the investigators found that it saves money "because of the reduced demand for very expensive services at the other end (of the disease process)." By slowing disease progression, "you dramatically improve quality of life over a 5-year period," Sharma added. "It makes sense for insurers to pick up the tab," Sharma asserted. Insurers "could expect a 5-year saving of $130 per patient by recommending high-dose vitamin therapy for their beneficiaries with advanced dry AMD," the Canadian team reported. (2002)