Lutein And Fish Oil Did Not Decrease Risk Of Progression To Advanced Age-Related Macular Degeneration

INTRO:Age-related macular degeneration accounts for more than half of all blindness in the United States. Past studies have shown that taking a formulation of oral vitamins and minerals has been found to help reduce the risk of severe disease progression by 25 percent. A new study examined whether including two additional supplements to the current formulation would decrease the risk of progression to advanced age-related macular degeneration. Catherine Dolf has more in this week’s JAMA Report.

B-ROLL
Ruth at computer

AUDIO
VO
RUTH LOTZ HAS BEEN LIVING WITH MACULAR DEGENERATION FOR THE LAST 11 YEARS.

AUDIO
SOT/FULL Super@ :04 Ruth Lotz – Macular Degeneration Patient Runs:06
“You are in a blurry world and I don’t see faces but I see color.”

B-ROLL
Ruth painting and looking at paints

AUDIO
VO
AND THAT’S FORTUNATE BECAUSE RUTH IS AN AWARD WINNING PAINTER. HER VISION LOSS HAS CHANGED THE WAY SHE PAINTS BUT HASN’T STOPPED HER FROM PAINTING OR DOING MOST ANYTHING ELSE.

AUDIO
SOT/FULL Super @:19 Emily Y. Chew, M.D., – National Eye Institute Runs:10
“Macular degeneration is pretty quiet, you can’t really see it…it’s these yellow spots in the retina or the back of the eye and you may not see any signs or symptoms until you actually have some sudden vision loss.”

(Video covering middle of bite: graphic showing how macular degeneration starts)

VIDEO
B-ROLL
Graphic: Ruth getting eye exam freeze blur picture, fade in:
Vitamin C, E
Beta Carotene
Zinc
Copper
Arrow going down with 25 percent

AUDIO
VO
IN 2001 RESEARCHERS FOUND THAT PATIENTS TAKING AN ORAL NUTRITIONAL FORMULATION WHICH INCLUDED VITAMIN C AND E, BETA CAROTENE, ZINC AND COPPER REDUCED PROGRESSION TO SEVERE DISEASE BY 25 PERCENT.

AUDIO
SOT/FULL Super @:40 Emily Y. Chew, M.D., – National Eye Institute Runs:03
“We were looking to see whether we can improve this formulation.”

VIDEO
B-ROLL
Dr. Chew walking down the hall, looking at an eye with Ruth

AUDIO
VO
DR. EMILY CHEW FROM THE NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE AND CO- AUTHORS CONDUCTED A SECOND RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL. MORE THAN 42 HUNDRED PATIENTS AT RISK FOR MACULAR DEGENERATION WERE GIVEN THE ORIGINAL FORMULA AND RANDOMIZED TO RECEIVE ADDITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS, LUTEIN AND ZEAXANTHIN (ZEE- ah- ZAN-thene), OMEGA 3 FISH OIL, A COMBINATION OF BOTH, OR A PLACEBO.

AUDIO
SOT/FULL Super @ 1:01 Emily Y. Chew, M.D., – National Eye Institute Runs:12
“Our original formulation included beta carotene which is an important nutrient but in our current study we found that beta carotene actually increased the risk of lung cancer in patients who were former smokers.”

(Video covering middle of bite: Dr. Chew examining Ruth’s eye)

GXF FULL
JAMA COVER

AUDIO
VO
THE STUDY APPEARS IN JAMA, JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.

AUDIO
SOT/FULL Super @1:17 Emily Y. Chew, M.D., – National Eye Institute Runs:09
“We need to substitute lutein for beta carotene cause lutein not only has a better, beneficial effect, but also reduces the adverse effect of lung cancer.”

VIDEO
B-ROLL
Older people walking on the street, blurred street shot, graphic: Lutein and Fish Oil, Ruth painting

AUDIO
VO
RESEARCHERS SAY THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE 50 PERCENT OF PATIENTS WITH MACULAR DEGENERATION ARE FORMER SMOKERS. HOWEVER, IN THIS STUDY THE COMBINATION OF LUTEIN AND FISH OIL DID NOT FURTHER REDUCE THE RISK OF PROGRESSION TO ADVANCED A-M-D.

AS FOR RUTH, SHE IS LOOKING FORWARD TO TURNING 92 IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS AND SAYS SHE HAS NO PLANS TO SLOW DOWN.

AUDIO
SOT/FULL Super@1:43 Ruth Lotz – Macular Degeneration Patient Runs:06
“If you want to have joy in your life, you’ve got to grab onto things that you enjoy doing and do it.”

VIDEO
B-ROLL
Ruth painting

AUDIO
VO
CATHERINE DOLF, THE JAMA REPORT.

TAG: THESE FINDINGS WERE PRESENTED AT THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING.