Optometry has a major role to play in the quality of longer life expectancy, believes Professor John Nolan from Ireland’s Nutrition Research Centre.
“There are strong indications that the first signs of blindness – particularly caused by macular degeneration – have some correlation with the first signs of dementia. The state of the retina, and the nutrients present – dietary pigments known as carotenoids – give us a tremendous insight into the state of the brain and the nutrients in the brain. Thanks to the wonderful technologies that we now have to assess patients, the retina can be used as a biomarker for brain health and how this relates to nutrition status,” said Professor Nolan, who has been exploring the link between nutrition and eye health for 15 years.
“We know that three key nutrients – lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin (carotenoids) – taken together have a direct impact on macular pigment density, and that enrichment of these carotenoids enhances visual function, but that we get very little of these nutrients in a regular diet. We know that people with high macular pigment also score highest in cognitive function tests – particularly with function and memory.”
He believes that sustained supplementation provides the best outcome –
“We have achieved a 100% improvement in macular pigment response when these three macular carotenoids are used in intervention, with positive results evident after 12 months. Surely this is a better route to care than waiting for the disease to develop to end stages and having to spend something like £36,000 per eye, per patient, to treat advanced wet macular degeneration with anti-VEGF injections,” he said.