The Study
Lutein + zeaxanthin and omega-3 fatty acids for age-related macular degeneration: the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) randomized clinical trial.
This study gave different vitamin pills to thousands of people with eye problems and watched what happened over five years. It didn't prove that the new vitamins helped stop their eyes from getting worse, but it did find that one old vitamin (beta carotene) might increase lung cancer risk in people who used to smoke. So, we know what happened in this group, but we can't say for sure it would work the same for everyone.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists tested if adding special vitamins (lutein, zeaxanthin, omega-3s) to a known eye supplement could stop old-age blindness from getting worse.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 574 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1For most people, the vitamins didn't make a noticeable difference, but if you rarely ate leafy greens or fish, they might help — and beta carotene could be dangerous if you used to smoke.
- 2The vitamins didn't help most people — 31% of those on placebo got worse, and 29–31% on the vitamins got worse.
- 3But in people who ate very little of these vitamins before, taking them cut risk by 26%.
- 4Also, replacing beta carotene with lutein + zeaxanthin helped, but beta carotene raised lung cancer risk in former smokers.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
JAMA
Year
2013
Authors
E. Chew, T. Clemons, J. Sangiovanni, R. Danis, F. Ferris, M. Elman, A. Antoszyk, A. Ruby, D. Orth, S. Bressler, G. Fish, Baker Hubbard, M. Klein, S. Chandra, B. Blodi, A. Domalpally, T. Friberg, W. Wong, P. Rosenfeld, E. Agrón, C. Toth, P. Bernstein, Robert Sperdut
Related Content
Claims (6)
People who consume more lutein and zeaxanthin through their diet have a lower incidence of advanced age-related macular degeneration.
Taking 10 mg of lutein and 2 mg of zeaxanthin daily does not lower the risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration in adults aged 50–85 who have high-risk drusen.
Taking omega-3 supplements at a dose of 350 mg DHA and 650 mg EPA daily does not lower the risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration in adults aged 50–85 who have high-risk drusen.
Among older adults with advanced eye disease and very low dietary intake of lutein and zeaxanthin, taking 10 mg of lutein and 2 mg of zeaxanthin daily was linked to a 26% reduction in the risk of the disease worsening.
In adults aged 50–85, replacing beta carotene with lutein and zeaxanthin in the AREDS supplement reduces the risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration by 18% compared to the original formulation containing beta carotene.
Among former smokers aged 50–85 with age-related macular degeneration, taking 15 mg of beta carotene daily is linked to a higher rate of lung cancer compared to not taking it, with 2.0% of supplement users developing lung cancer versus 0.9% of non-users.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.