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Friday, September 17, 2004
Vitamin A Recommended For RP, DHA Benefits Limited
Dr Eliot L. Berson of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School in Boston still recommends that people with retinitis pigmentosa supplement their diets with 15 000 IU of Vitamin A palmitate per day. Vitamin A supplementation should be supervised by a doctor to avoid liver damage.
The researcher and his colleagues have also found that the Omega-3 fatty acid DHA will only slow vision loss if taken with Vitamin A palmitate and then only for the first two years.
Two research articles based on Berson's study of Vitamin A and DHA are published in the Archives of Ophthalmology. Read more in the (JAMA/Archives media release 'Omega-3 Fatty Acid Therapy Does Not Slow Progression Of Retinitis Pigmentosa In Patients Receiving Vitamin A Treatment' (at Doctor's Guide, 13 September 2004).
Update 2 October 2004: Alan Laties, M.D. Chairman of the US Foundation Fighting Blindness Scientific Advisory Board gives more information in 'New Findings Lead to Revised Therapeutic Regimen to Slow RP.' The article further explains the way DHA and Vitamin A together can slow vision loss:
The researcher and his colleagues have also found that the Omega-3 fatty acid DHA will only slow vision loss if taken with Vitamin A palmitate and then only for the first two years.
Two research articles based on Berson's study of Vitamin A and DHA are published in the Archives of Ophthalmology. Read more in the (JAMA/Archives media release 'Omega-3 Fatty Acid Therapy Does Not Slow Progression Of Retinitis Pigmentosa In Patients Receiving Vitamin A Treatment' (at Doctor's Guide, 13 September 2004).
The researchers conclude: "For patients with retinitis pigmentosa beginning vitamin A therapy, addition of docosahexaenoic acid, 1,200 milligrams per day, slowed the course of disease for two years. Among patients on vitamin A for at least two years, a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids (0.20 grams per day or more) slowed the decline in [vision loss]."
JAMA/Archives
Update 2 October 2004: Alan Laties, M.D. Chairman of the US Foundation Fighting Blindness Scientific Advisory Board gives more information in 'New Findings Lead to Revised Therapeutic Regimen to Slow RP.' The article further explains the way DHA and Vitamin A together can slow vision loss:
At the conclusion of the clinical trial, subgroup analyses clearly documented that DHA accelerated the onset of visual benefit for those who were newly started on Vitamin A. But in participants who had already taken Vitamin A for a period of time long enough to achieve its full benefit, DHA did not add to that benefit.
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