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Can Supplements Help Protect People
With Diabetes Against Retinopathy?
Nutrition researchers believe regular intake of Vitamins C
and E and Magnesium could help prevent or limit diabetic
retinopathy (DR), a potentially blinding disease.
Each of these essential nutrients enables the body to respond in
ways that alter retinopathy mechanisms. For example, Vitamins C
and E suppress production of a known growth factor, VEG-F, which
can promote abnormal blood vessels in the retina. And high dietary
levels of Magnesium are associated with lower blood pressure
and blood sugar. Lower levels of both correlate with a lower risk
of retinopathy.
A research team from Metabolic Science, Cambridge, United
Kingdom, surveyed studies published from 1988 through 2008
on the impact of these micronutrients on Diabetic Retinopathy
(DR). The researchers note the evidence is not yet strong enough
to specifically recommend Vitamins C or E or Magnesium
supplements for patients with diabetes.
They believe the research should continue because if dietary
intake of the micronutrients, rather than a medication, might
reduce the risk of diabetic complications, would be preferable.
In hospital-based studies, participants with higher levels of
Vitamin C in their blood measurements were less likely to have
DR. However, in population-based studies there was no
association between dietary intake of Vitamin C and DR.
For Vitamin E, no studies showed an association between blood
levels or dietary intake and DR risk. For Magnesium, one study
showed an association between low blood levels of Magnesium
and DR progression, but other studies were inconclusive.
This research was published in the January 2010 issue
of Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy
of Ophthalmology.
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