In a new study, researchers found that people who ate a diet high in red and processed meat, fried food, refined grains, and high-fat dairy were three times more likely to develop an eye condition that damages the retina and affects a person’s central vision.
The research was conducted by a team at the University at Buffalo.
The condition is called late-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
AMD is an irreversible condition that affects a person’s central vision, taking away their ability to drive, among other common daily activities.
Treatment for late, neovascular AMD is invasive and expensive, and there is no treatment for geographic atrophy, the other form of late AMD that also causes vision loss.
Therefore, it is very important to catch this condition early and prevent the development of late AMD.
In the study, the team found that the Western dietary pattern, one defined as high in consumption of red and processed meat, fried food, refined grains, and high-fat dairy, may be a risk factor for developing late AMD.
The authors studied the occurrence of early and late AMD over approximately 18 years of follow-up among participants of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study.
They used data on 66 different foods that participants self-reported consuming between 1987 and 1995 and identified two diet patterns in this cohort—Western and what researchers commonly refer to as “prudent” (healthy)—that best explained the greatest variation between diets.
They found that people who had no AMD or early AMD at the start of the study and reported frequently consuming unhealthy foods were more likely to develop vison-threatening, late-stage disease approximately 18 years later.
Early AMD is asymptomatic, meaning that people often don’t know that they have it.
To catch it, a physician would have to review a photo of the person’s retina, looking for pigmentary changes and development of drusen, or yellow deposits made up of lipids.
With early AMD, there could be either atrophy or a buildup of new blood vessels in the part of the eye known as the macula.
This U.S.-based study is one of the first examining diet patterns and development of AMD over time. The other studies were conducted in European cohorts.
To date, most research has been conducted on specific nutrients—such as high-dose antioxidants—that seems to have a protective effect.
But the team says people consume a variety of foods and nutrients, not just one or two, and that’s why looking at diet patterns helps tell more of the story.
The lead author of the study is Shruti Dighe at UB’s School of Public Health and Health Professions.
The study is published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
Copyright © 2019 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
